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“HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO GO IN?” 




THE TAL 




C COLLODI 

•fe. ♦ B *fc IIIxj s f rated 
... ALICE CARS BY ... 


* > 
» * 


I TMAlf °pu BLISH1 N. g"Qo 

RACINEr OH I GAG O 





Copyright 1917 by 

ITM AT^ 'Pu B LI S H I N G Co. 

RACINE- • • C-H1C-AGC 


/ 

SEK'.I? 1917 

©Cl. A 478485 

~~u*> ( . 


CONTENTS 


Chap. 

I 

II 

III 


IV 


V 

VI 

VII 

VIII 

IX 

X 

XI 

XII 

XIII 

XIV 
XV 

XVI 


Page 

The Piece oe Wood That Laughed 

and Cried Like a Child .... 9 


Master Cherry Gives the Wood Away 12 

Geppetto Names His Puppet Pinoc- 
-^chio " 16 

The Talking-Cricket Scolds Pin- 

occhio 23 

The Flying Egg 26 

Pinocchio^s Feet Burn to Cinders . 29 


Geppetto Gives His Own Breakfast to 


Pinocchio 31 

Geppetto Makes Pinocchio New Feet 35 

Pinocchio Goes to See a Puppet-Show 39 

The Puppets Recognize Their Broth- 
er Pinocchio 42 

Fire-Eater Sneezes and Pardons 

Pinocchio 45 

Pinocchio Receives a Present of Five 

Gold Pieces 49 

The Inn of The Red Craw-Fish . . 57 

Pinocchio Falls Among Assassins . . 61 

The Assassins Hang Pinocchio to the 

Big Oak 65 

The Beautiful Child Rescues the 

Puppet 71 


( 


CONTENTS 

Chap. * J age 

XVII Pinocchio Will Not Take His 

Medicine 75 

XVIII Pinocchio Again Meets the Fox and 

the Cat 81 

XIX Pinocchio Is Robbed of His Money . 87 

XX Pinocchio Starts Back to the Fairy j s 

House 91 

XXI Pinocchio Acts as Watch-Dog ... 94 

XXII Pinocchio Discovers the Robbers . . 97 

XXIII Pinocchio Flies to the Seashore . .101 

XXIV Pinocchio Finds the Fairy Again . .109 

XXV Pinocchio Promises the Fairy to Be 

Good 116 

XXVI The Terrible Dog-Fish 120 

XXVII Pinocchio Is Arrested by the Gen- 
darmes . 126 

XXVIII Pinocchio Escapes Being Fried Like 

a Fish 138 

XXIX He Returns to the Fairy's House . . 139 

XXX The “Land of Boobies” 147 

XXXI Pinocchio Enjoys Five Months of 

Happiness 153 

XXXII Pinocchio Turns Into a Donkey . .160 

XXXIII Pinocchio Is Trained for the Circus 167 

XXXIV Pinocchio Is Swallowed by the Dog- 

Fish 178 

XXXV A Happy Surprise for Pinocchio . .186 

XXXVI Pinocchio at Last Ceases to Be a Pup- 
pet and Becomes a Boy . . . ,.194 


COLOR ILLUSTRATIONS 


“How Much Does It Cost to Go in?” ( Frontispiece ) c 

Page 

A Little Chicken Popped Out,, Very Gay and 

Polite 17 

Splash! Splash! They Fell Into the Very 

Middle of the Ditcpi 52 


Four Rabbits as Black as Ink Entered Carry- 
ing a Little Bier 69 

An Immense Serpent Stretched Across the 

Road 104 

“Oh, I Am Sick of Being a Puppet!” Cried 

PlNOCCHIO 121 


In Less Than an Hour All His Friends Were 

Invited 172 

They Thought It Would Be More Comforta- 
ble to Get on the Tunny's Back . . .189 


LINE ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 

Decorative Title Page 1 

The Runaway Puppet 9 

Geppetto Carried Off His Fine Piece of Wood 12 

He Set to Work to Cut Out His Puppet . . . 16 

Pinnochio Threw His Hammer at the Talk- 
ing-Cricket 23 

Poor Pinocchk/s Feet Burn to Cinders . , 29 

Geppetto Makes His Puppet Some Clothes . 35 

The Puppets Began to Dance Merrily ... 45 

Pinocchio Meets the Cat and the Fox ... 49 

Dinner at The Red Craw-Fish Inn .... 57 

Pinocchio Escapes from his Assassins ... 61 

They Hung Pinocchio to the Big Oak Tree 65 

The Falcon Saves Pinocchio 71 

Pinocchio Refuses to Take His Medicine . . 75 

Treacherous Companions 81 

The Judge Was a Big Ape of the Gorilla 

Type 87 

Pinocchio Gets His Foot Caught in a Trap . 94 

The New Watch-Dog . 97 

Pinocchio^s Wild Ride on the Pigeon j s Back 101 


LINE' ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 

Pinocchio Braves the Sea to Save His Father 109 

“School Gives Me Pain All Over the Body,” 

Confessed Pinocchio 116 

Pinocchio Starts Off Happily for School . 120 

The Boys Threw Their Books at Poor 

Pinocchio 126 

The Fisherman Put His Enormous Hand Into 

the Net 133 

The Dog Seizes Pinocchio in His Mouth and 

Escapes 139 

“Here Is the Coach!” Shouted Candlewick . 147 
They Arrive in the “Land of the Boobies” . 153 
The Boys Are Turned Into Donkeys . . . .160 

The Little Donkeys Are Sold .167 

The Puppet Was Wriggling Like an Eel . . 178 

Swallowed By the Dog-Fish 186 

The Blind Cat and the Tailless Fox . . .194 















































* 

































































































































































































PINOCCHIO 




CHAPTER I 

THE PIECE OF WOOD THAT LAUGHED 
AND CRIED LIKE A CHIU) 

T HERE was once upon a time a piece of wood in the 
shop of an old carpenter named Master Antonio. Every- 
body, however, called him Master Cherry, on account of the 
end of his nose, which was always as red and polished as a 
ripe cherry. 

No sooner had Master Cherry set eyes on the piece of 
wood than his face beamed with delight, and, rubbing his 
hands together with satisfaction, he said softly to himself: 

“This wood has come at the right moment; it will just 
do to make the leg of a little table.” 

He immediately took a sharp axe with which to remove 
the bark and the rough surface, hut just as he was going 


9 


10 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


to give the first stroke lie heard a very small voice say 
imploringly, “Do not strike me so hard!” 

He turned his terrified eyes all around the room to try 
and discover where the little voice could possibly have come 
from, but he saw nobody! He looked under the bench — 
nobody; he looked into a cupboard that was always shut — no- 
body ; he looked into a basket of shavings and sawdust — nobody ; 
he even opened the door of the shop and gave a glance into 
the street — and still nobody. Who, then, could it be? 

“I see how it is,” he said, laughing and scratching his 
wig, “evidently that little voice was all my imagination. Let 
us set to work again.” 

And, taking up the axe, he struck a tremendous blow on 
the piece of wood. 

“Oh! oh! you have hurt me!” cried the same little voice 
dolefully. 

This time Master Cherry was petrified. His eyes started 
out of his head with fright, his mouth remained open, and 
his tongue hung out almost to the end of his chin, like a 
mask on a fountain. As soon as he had recovered the use 
of his speech he began to say, stuttering and trembling 
with fear: 

“But where on earth can that little voice have come 
from that said ‘Oh! oh!’? Is it possible that this piece of 
wood can have learned to cry and to lament like a child? 
I cannot believe it. This piece of wood is nothing but a log 
for fuel like all the others, and thrown on the fire it would 
about suffice to boil a saucepan of beans. How then? Can 
anyone be hidden inside it? If anyone is hidden inside, so 
much the worse for him. I will settle him at once.” 

So saying, he seized the poor piece of wood and com- 
menced beating it without mercy against the walls of the room. 


THE ADVENTURES OE PINOCCHIO 


11 


Then he stopped to listen if he could hear any little 
voice lamenting. He waited two minutes — nothing; five min- 
utes — nothing; ten minutes — still nothing! 

“I see how it is,” he then said, forcing himself to laugh, 
and pushing up his wig; “evidently the little voice that said 
‘Oh! oh!’ was all my imagination! Let us set to work again.” 

Putting the axe aside, he took his plane, to plane and 
polish the hit of wood; but whilst he was running it up and 
down he heard the same little voice say, laughing: 

“Stop! you are tickling me all over!” 

This time poor Master Cherry fell down as if he had 
been struck by lightning. When he at last opened his eyes 
he found himself seated on the floor. 

His face was changed, even the end of his nose, instead 
of being crimson, as it was nearly always, had become blue 
from fright. 



CHAPTER II 

MASTER CHERRY GIVES THE WOOD AWAY 

A T that moment some one knocked at the door. 

“Come in,” said the carpenter, without having the 
strength to rise to his feet. 

A lively little old man immediately walked into the shop. 
His name was Geppetto, but when the boys of the neighbor- 
hood wished to make him angry they called him Pudding, 
because his yellow wig greatly resembled a pudding made of 
Indian corn. 

Geppetto was very fiery. Woe to him who called him 
Pudding! He became furious and there was no holding him. 

“Good-day, Master Antonio,” said Geppetto; “what are 
you doing there on the floor?” 

“I am teaching the alphabet to the ants.” 


12 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


13 


“Much good may that do you.” 

“What has brought you to me, neighbor Geppetto?” 

“My legs. But to tell the truth, Master Antonio, I came 
to ask a favor of you.” 

“Here I am, ready to serve you,” replied the carpenter, 
getting on his knees. 

“This morning an idea came into my head.” 

“Let us hear it.” 

“I thought I would make a beautiful wooden puppet; 
one that could dance, fence, and leap like an acrobat. With 
this puppet I would travel about the world to earn a piece 
of bread and a glass of wine. What do you think of it?” 

“Bravo, Pudding!” exclaimed the same little voice, and 
it was impossible to say where it came from. 

Hearing himself called Pudding, Geppetto became as red 
as a turkey-cock from rage and, turning to the carpenter, he 
said in a fury: 

“Why do you insult me?” 

“Who insults you?” 

“You called me Pudding!” 

“It was not I!” 

“Do you think I called myself Pudding? It was vou, 
I say!” 

“No!” 

“Yes!” 

“No!” 

“Yes!” 

And, becoming more and more angry, from words they 
came to blows, and, flying at each other, they bit and fought, 
and scratched. 


14 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


When the fight was over Master Antonio was in pos- 
session of Geppetto’s yellow wig, and Geppetto discovered that 
the grey wig belonging to the carpenter remained between 
his teeth. 

“Give me back my wig,” screamed Master Antonio. 

“And you, return me mine, and let us be friends again.” 

The two old men having each recovered his own wig, 
shook hands and swore that they would remain friends to the 
end of their lives. 

“Well, then, neighbor Geppetto,” said the carpenter, to 
prove that peace was made, “what is the favor that you wish 
of me?” 

“I want a little wood to make my puppet; will you give 
me some?” 

Master Antonio was delighted, and he immediately went 
to the bench and fetched the piece of wood that had caused 
him so much fear. But just as he was going to give it to 
his friend the piece of wood gave a shake and, wriggling 
violently out of his hands, struck with all of its force against 
the dried-up shins of poor Geppetto. 

“Ah! is that the courteous way in which you make your 
presents, Master Antonio? You have almost lamed me!” 

“I swear to you that it was not I!” 

“Then you would have it that it was I?” 

“The wood is entirely to blame!” 

“I know that it was the wood; but it was you that hit 
my legs with it!” 

“I did not hit you with it!” 

“Liar!” 

“Geppetto, don’t insult me or I will call you Pudding!” 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


15 


“Knave!” 

“Pudding!” 

“Donkey!” 

“Pudding!” 

“Baboon!” 

“Pudding!” 

On hearing himself called Pudding for the third time 
Geppetto, mad with rage, fell upon the carpenter and they 
fought desperately. 

When the battle was over, Master Antonio had two more 
scratches on his nose, and his adversary had lost two buttons 
off his waistcoat. Their accounts being thus squared, they 
shook hands and swore to remain good friends for the rest 
of their lives. 

Geppetto carried off his fine piece of wood and, thank- 
ing Master Antonio, returned limping to his house. 


CHAPTER III 


GEPPETTO NAMES HIS PUPPET PINOCCHIO 

G EPPETTO lived in a small ground-floor room that was 
only lighted from the staircase. The furniture could not 
have been simpler- — a rickety chair, a poor bed, and a broken- 
down table. At the end of the room there was a fireplace 
with a lighted fire; hut the fire was painted, and by the fire 
was a painted saucepan that was boiling cheerfully and send- 
ing out a cloud of smoke that looked exactly like real smoke. 

As soon as he reached home Geppetto took his tools and 
set to work to cut out and model his puppet. 

“What name shall I give him?” he said to himself; “I 
think I will call him Pinocchio. It is a name that will bring 
him luck. I once knew a whole family so called. There was 
Pinocchio the father, Pinocchia the mother, and Pinocchi the 



A LITTLE CHICKEN POPPED OUT, VERY GAY AND POLITE 



THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


19 


children, and all of them did well. The richest of them was 
a beggar.” 

Having found a name for his puppet he began to work 
in good earnest, and he first made his hair, then his forehead, 
and then his eyes. 

The eyes being finished, imagine his astonishment when 
he perceived that they moved and looked fixedly at him. 

Geppetto, seeing himself stared at by those two wooden 
eyes, said in an angry voice: 

“Wicked wooden eyes, why do you look at me?” 

No one answered. 

He then proceeded to carve the nose, but no sooner had 
he made it than it began to grow. And it grew, and grew, 
and grew, until in a few minutes it had become an immense 
nose that seemed as if it would never end. 

Poor Geppetto tired himself out with cutting it off, but 
the more he cut and shortened it, the longer did that imper- 
tinent nose become! 

The mouth was not even completed when it began to laugh 
and deride him. 

“Stop laughing!” said Geppetto, provoked; but he might 
as well have spoken to the wall. 

“Stop laughing, I say!” he roared in a threatening tone. 

The mouth then ceased laughing, hut put out its tongue 
as far as it would go. 

ID 

Geppetto, not to spoil his handiwork, pretended not to 
see and continued his labors. After the mouth he fashioned 
the chin, then the throat, then the shoulders, the stomach, 
the arms and the hands. 


20 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


The hands were scarcely finished when Geppetto felt his 
wig snatched from his head. He turned round, and what 
did he see? He saw his yellow wig in the puppet’s hand. 

“Pinocchio! Give me back my wig instantly!” 

But Pinocchio, instead of returning it, put it on his own 
head and was in consequence nearly smothered. 

Geppetto at this insolent and derisive behavior felt sadder 
and more melancholy than he had ever been in his life before; 
and, turning to Pinocchio, he said to him: 

“You young rascal! You are not yet completed and you 
are already beginning to show want of respect to your father! 
That is bad, my boy, very bad!” 

And he dried a tear. 

The legs and the feet remained to be done. 

When Geppetto had finished the feet he received a kick 
on the point of his nose. 

“I deserve it!” he said to himself; “I should have thought 
of it sooner! Now it is too late!” 

He then took the puppet under the arms and placed 
him on the floor to teach him to walk. 

Pinocchio’s legs were stiff and he could not move, but 
Geppetto led him by the hand and showed him how to put 
one foot before the other. 

When his legs became limber Pinocchio began to walk 
by himself and to run about the room, until, having gone out 
of the house door, he jumped into the street and escaped. 

Poor Geppetto rushed after him hut was not able to over- 
take him, for that rascal Pinocchio leaped in front of him 
like a hare and knocking his wooden feet together against the 


THE ADVENTURES OE PINOCCHIO 


21 


pavement made as much clatter as twenty pairs of peas- 
ants’ clogs. 

“Stop him! stop him!” shouted Geppetto; but the people 
in the street, seeing a wooden puppet running like a race- 
horse, stood still in astonishment to look at it, and laughed 
and laughed. 

At last, as good luck would have it, a soldier arrived who, 
hearing the uproar, imagined that a colt had escaped from 
his master. Planting himself courageously with his legs apart 
in the middle of the road, he waited with the determined pur- 
pose of stopping him and thus preventing the chance of worse 
disasters. 

When Pinocchio, still at some distance, saw the soldier 
barricading the whole street, he endeavored to take him by 
surprise and to pass between his legs. But he failed entirely. 

The soldier without disturbing himself in the least caught 
him cleverly by the nose and gave him to Geppetto. Wish- 
ing to punish him, Geppetto intended to pull his ears at once. 
But imagine his feelings when he could not succeed in finding 
them. And do you know the reason? In his hurry to model 
him he had forgotten to make any ears. 

He then took him by the collar and as he was leading 
him away he said to him, shaking his head threateningly: 

“We will go home at once, and as soon as we arrive 
we will settle our accounts, never doubt it.” 

At this information Pinocchio threw himself on the ground 
and would not take another step. In the meanwhile a crowd 
of idlers and inquisitive people began to assemble and to make 
a ring around them. 

Some of them said one thing, some another. 


n THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 

“Poor puppet!” said several, “he is right not to wish 
to return home ! Who knows how Geppetto, that bad old 
man, will beat him!” 

And the others added maliciously: 

“Geppetto seems a good man! but with boys he is a 
regular tyrant! If that poor puppet is left in his hands he 
is quite capable of tearing him in pieces!” 

It ended in so much being said and done that the soldier 
at last set Pinocchio at liberty and led Geppetto to prison. 
The poor man, not being ready with words to defend himself, 
cried like a calf and as he was being led away to prison 
sobbed out: 

“Wretched boy! And to think how I labored to make 
him a well-conducted puppet! But it serves me right! I should 
have thought of it sooner!” 



CHAPTER IV 


THE TALKING-CRICKET SCOLDS PINOCCHIO 

W HILE poor Geppetto was being taken to prison for no 
fault of his, that imp Pinocchio, finding himself free 
from the clutches of the soldier, ran off as fast as his legs 
could carry him. That he might reach home the quicker he 
rushed across the fields, and in his mad hurry he jumped 
high banks, thorn hedges and ditches full of water. 

Arriving at the house he found the street door ajar. He 
pushed it open, went in, and having fastened the latch, threw 
himself on the floor and gave a great sigh of satisfaction. 

But soon he heard some one in the room who was saying: 
“Cri-cri-cri!” 

“.Who calls me?” said Pinocchio in a fright. 

“It is I!” 


2a 


24 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


Pinocchio turned round and saw a big cricket crawling 
slowly up the wall. 

“Tell me, Cricket, who may you be?” 

“I am the Talking- Cricket, and I have lived in this room 
a hundred years or more.” 

“Now, however, this room is mine,” said the puppet, “and 
if you would do me a pleasure go away at once, without even 
turning round.” 

“I will not go,” answered the Cricket, “until I have told 
you a great truth.” 

“Tell it me, then, and be quick about it.” 

“Woe to those boys who rebel against their parents and 
run away from home. They will never come to any good 
in the world, and sooner or later they will repent bitterly.” 

“Sing away, Cricket, as you please, and as long as you 
please. For me, I have made up my mind to run away 
tomorrow at daybreak, because if I remain I shall not escape 
the fate of all other boys; I shall be sent to school and shall 
be made to study either by love or by force. To tell you in 
confidence, I have no wish to learn; it is much more amusing 
to run after butterflies, or to climb trees and to take the young 
birds out of their nests.” 

“Poor little goose! But do you not know that in that 
way you will grow up a perfect donkey, and that every one 
will make fun of you?” 

“Hold your tongue, you wicked, ill-omened croaker!” 
shouted Pinocchio. 

But the Cricket, who was patient and philosophical, in- 
stead of becoming angry at this impertinence, continued in 
the same tone: 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


25 


c But if you do not wish to go to school why not at least 
learn a trade, if only to enable you to earn honestly a piece 
of bread !” 

“Do you want me to tell you?” replied Pinocchio, who 
was beginning to lose patience. “Amongst all the trades in 
the world there is only one that really takes my fancy.” 

“And that trade — what is it?” 

“It is to eat, drink, sleep and amuse myself, and to lead 
a vagabond life 'from morning to night.” 

“As a rule,” said the Talking- Cricket, “all those who fol- 
low that trade end almost always either in a hospital or in 
prison.” 

“Take care, you wicked, ill-omened croaker! Woe to you 
if I fly into a passion!” 

“Poor Pinocchio! I really pity you!” 

“Why do you pity me?” 

“Because you are a puppet and, what is worse, because 
you have a wooden head.” 

At these last words Pinocchio jumped up in a lage and, 
snatching a wooden hammer from the bench, he threw it at 
the Talking- Cricket. 

Perhaps he never meant to hit him, but unfortunately it 
struck him exactly on the head, so that the poor Cricket had 
scarcely breath to cry “Cri-cri-cri!” and then he remained 
dried up and flattened against the wall. 



CHAPTER Y 

THE FLYING EGG 

N IGHT was coming on and Pinocchio, remembering that 
lie had eaten nothing all day, began to feel a gnawing 
in his stomach that very much resembled appetite 

After a few minutes his appetite had become hunger 
and in no time his hunger became ravenous. 

Poor Pinocchio ran quickly to the fireplace, where a sauce- 
pan was boiling, and was going to take off the lid to see 
what was in it, but the saucepan was only painted on the 
wall. You can imagine his feelings. His nose, which was 
already long, became longer by at least three inches. 

He then began to run about the room, searching in the 
drawers and in every imaginable place, in hopes of finding a 
bit of bread. If it was only a bit of dry bread, a crust, a 


26 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


27 


bone left by a (log, a little moldy pudding of Indian corn, 
a fish bone, a cherry stone — in fact, anything that he could 
gnaw. But he could find nothing, nothing at all, absolutely 
nothing. 

And in the meanwhile his hunger grew and grew. Poor 
Pinocchio had no other relief than yawning, and his yawns 
were so tremendous that sometimes his mouth almost reached 
his ears. And after he had yawned he spluttered and felt 
as if he were going to faint. 

Then he began to cry desperately, and he said: 

“The Talking- Cricket was right. I did wrong to rebel 
against my papa and to run away from home. If my papa 
were here I should not now be dying of yawning! Oh! what 
a dreadful illness hunger is!” 

Just then he thought he saw something in the dust-heap — 
something round and white that looked like a hen’s egg. To 
give a spring and seize hold of it was the affair of a moment. 
It was indeed an egg. 

Pinocchio’s joy was beyond description. Almost believing 
it must be a dream he kept turning the egg over in his hands, 
feeling it and kissing it. And as he kissed it he said: 

“And now, how shall I cook it? Shall I make an omelet? 
No, it would be better to cook it in a saucer! Or would it 
not be more savory to fry it in the frying-pan? Or shall I 
simply boil it? No, the quickest way of all is to cook it in 
a saucer: I am in such a hurry to eat it!” 

Without loss of time he placed an earthenware saucer on 
a brazier full of red-hot embers. Into the saucer instead of 
oil or butter he poured a little water; and when the water 
began to smoke, tac! he broke the egg-shell over it and let 


28 


THE ADVENTURES OE PINOCCHIO 


the contents drop in. But instead of the white and the yolk 
a little chicken popped out very gay and polite. Making a 
beautiful courtesy it said to him: 

“A thouand thanks, Master Pinocchio, for saving me the 
trouble of breaking the shell. Adieu until we meet again. 
Keep well, and my best compliments to all at home!” 

Thus saying, it spread its wings, darted through the open 
window and, flying away, was lost to sight. 

The poor puppet stood as if he had been bewitched, with 
his eyes fixed, his mouth open, and the egg-shell in his hand. 
Recovering, however, from his first stupefaction, he began to 
cry and scream, and to stamp his feet on the floor in despera- 
tion, and amidst his sobs he said: 

“Ah, indeed, the Talking-Cricket was right. If I had not 
run away from home, and if my papa were here, I should 
not now be dying of hunger! Oh! what a dreadful illness 
hunger is!” 

And, as his stomach cried out more than ever and he did 
not know how to quiet it, he thought he would leave the house 
and make an excursion in the neighborhood in hopes of find- 
ing some charitable person who would give him a piece of bread. 



CHAPTER VI 

pinocchkTs feet burn to cinders 

I T was a wild and stormy night. The thunder was tre- 
mendous and the lightning so vivid that the sky seemed 
on fire. 

Pinocchio had a great fear of thunder, hut hunger was 
stronger than fear. He therefore closed the house door and 
made a rush for the village, which he reached in a hundred 
bounds, with his tongue hanging out and panting for breath 
like a dog after game. 

But he found it all dark and deserted. The shops were 
closed, the windows shut, and there was not so much as a 
dog in the street. It seemed the land of the dead. 

Pinocchio, urged by desperation and hunger, took hold 
of the hell of a house and began to ring it with all his might, 
saying to himself : 


29 


30 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCIilO 


“That will bring somebody.” 

And so it did. A little old man appeared at a window 
with a night-cap on his head and called to him angrily: 

“What do you want at such an hour?” 

“Would you be kind enough to give me a little bread?” 

“Wait there, I will be back directly,” said the little old 
man, thinking it was one of those rascally boys who amuse 
themselves at night by ringing the house-bells to rouse re- 
spectable people who are sleeping quietly. 

After half a minute the window was again opened and the 
voice of the same little old man shouted to Pinocchio: 

“Come underneath and hold out your cap.” 

Pinocchio pulled off his cap; but, just as he held it out, 
an enormous basin of water was poured down on him, soak- 
ing him from head to foot as if he had been a pot of dried-up 
geraniums. 

He returned home like a wet chicken, quite exhausted 
with fatigue and hunger; and, having no longer strength to 
stand, he sat down and rested his damp and muddy feet on 
a brazier full of burning embers. 

And then he fell asleep, and whilst he slept his feet, which 
were wooden, took fire, and little by little they burnt away 
and became cinders. 

Pinocchio continued to sleep and to snore as if his feet 
belonged to some one else. At last about daybreak he awoke 
because some one was knocking at the door. 

“Who is there?” he asked, yawning and rubbing his eyes. 

“It is I!” answered a voice. 

And Pinocchio recognized Geppetto’s voice. 


CHAPTER VII 


GEPPETTO GIVES HIS OWN BREAKFAST 
TO PINOCCHIO 

P OOR Pinocchio, whose eyes were still half shut from sleep, 
had not as yet discovered that his feet were burnt off. 
The moment, therefore, that he heard his father’s voice he 
slipped off his stool to run and open the door; but, after 
stumbling two or three times, he fell his whole length on 
the floor. 

And the noise he made in falling was as if a sack of 
wooden ladles had been thrown from a fifth story. 

“Open the door!” shouted Geppetto from the street. 
“Dear papa, I cannot,” answered the puppet, crying 
and rolling about on the ground. 

“Why can’t you?” 

“Because my feet have been eaten.” 

“And who has eaten your feet?” 

“The cat,” said Pinocchio, seeing the cat, who was amus- 
ing herself by making some shavings dance with her forepaws. 

“Open the door, I tell you!” repeated Geppetto. “If 
you don’t, when I get into the house you shall have the cat 
from me!” 

“I cannot stand up, believe me. Oh, poor me! poor me! 
I shall have to walk on mv knees for the rest of my life!” 


31 


32 THE ADVENTURES OE PINOCCHIO 


Geppetto, believing that all this lamentation was only 
another of the puppet’s tricks, thought of a means of putting 
an end to it, and, climbing up the wall, he got in at the window. 

He was very angry and at first he did nothing but scold; 
but when he saw his Pinocchio lying on the ground and really 
without feet he was quite overcome. He took him in his arms 
and began to kiss and caress him, and to say a thousand 
endearing things to him, and as the big tears ran down his 
cheeks he said, sobbing: 

“My little Pinocchio! how did you manage to burn your 
feet?” 

“I don’t know, papa, hut it has been such a dreadful night 
that I shall remember it as long as I live. It thundered 
and lightened, and I was very hungry, and then the Talking- 
Cricket said to me: ‘It serves you right; you have been 
wicked and you deserve it,’ and I said to him: ‘Take care, 
Cricket!’ and he said: ‘You are a puppet and you have a 
wooden head,’ and I threw the handle of a hammer at him, 
and he died, hut the fault was his, for I didn’t wish to kill 
him, and the proof of it is that I put an earthenware saucer 
on a brazier of burning embers, but a chicken flew out and 
said: ‘Adieu until we meet again, and many compliments to 
all at home’: and I got still more hungry, for which reason 
that little old man in a night-cap, opening the window, said 
to me: ‘Come underneath and hold out your hat,’ and poured 
a basinful of water on my head, because asking for a little 
bread isn’t a disgrace, is it? and I returned home at once, and 
because I was always very hungry I put my feet on the 
brazier to dry them, and then you returned, and I found they 
were burnt off, and I am always hungry, but I have no longer 
any feet! Oh! oh! oh! oh!” And poor Pinocchio began to 
cry and to roar so loudly that he was heard five miles off. 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


33 


Geppetto, who from all this jumbled account had only 
understood one thing, which was that the puppet was dying 
of hunger, drew from his pocket three pears and, giving them 
to him, said: 

“These three pears were intended for my breakfast, but 
I will give them to you willingly. Eat them, and I hope 
they will do you good.” 

“If you wish me to eat them, be kind enough to peel 
them for me.” 

“Peel them?” said Geppetto, astonished. “I should never 
have thought, my boy, that you were so dainty and fastidious. 
That is bad ! In this world we should accustom ourselves 
from childhood to like and to eat everything, for there is no 
saying to what we may be brought. There are so many 
chances!” 

“You are no doubt right,” interrupted Pinocchio, “but I 
will never eat fruit that has not been peeled. I cannot bear 
rind.” 

So good Geppetto peeled the three pears and put the rind 
on a corner of the table. 

Having eaten the first pear in two mouthfuls, Pinocchio 
was about to throw away the core, but Geppetto caught hold 
of his arm and said to him: 

“Do not throw it away; in this world everything may 
be of use.” 

“But core I am determined I will not eat,” shouted the 
puppet, turning upon him like a viper. 

“Who knows! there are so many chances!” repeated Gep- 
petto, without losing his temper. 

And so the three cores, instead of being thrown out of 


34 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


the window, were placed on the corner of the table, together 
with the three rinds. 

Having eaten, or rather having devoured the three pears, 
Pinocchio yawned tremendously, and then said in a fretful tone: 

“I am as hungry as ever!” 

“But, my boy, I have nothing more to give you!” 

“Nothing, really nothing?” 

“I have only the rind and the cores of the three pears.” 

“One must have patience!” said Pinocchio; “if there is 
nothing else I will eat a rind.” 

And he began to chew it. At first he made a wry face, 
but then one after another he quickly disposed of the rinds: 
and after the rinds even the cores, and when he had eaten 
up everything he clapped his hands on his sides in his satis- 
faction and said joyfully: 

“Ah! now I feel comfortable.” 

“You see, now,” observed Geppetto, “that I was right 
when I said to you that it did not do to accustom ourselves 
to be too particular or too dainty in our tastes. We can 
never know, my dear boy, what may happen to us. There 
are so many chances!” 



CHAPTER VIII 

GEPPETTO MAKES PINOCCHIO NEW FEET 

N O sooner had the puppet satisfied his hunger than he began 
to cry and to grumble because he wanted a pair of 
new feet. 

But Geppetto, to punish him for his naughtiness, allowed 
him to cry and to despair for half the day. He then said 
to him: 

“Why should I make you new feet? To enable you, 
perhaps, to escape again from home?” 

“I promise you,” said the puppet, sobbing, “that for the 
future I will be good.” 

“All boys,” replied Geppetto, “when they are bent upon 
obtaining something, say the same thing.” 

35 


36 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCIIIO 


“I promise you that I will go to school and that I will 
study and bring home a good report.” 

“All boys, when they are bent on obtaining something, 
repeat the same story.” 

“But I am not like other boys! I am better than all of 
them and I always speak the truth. I promise you, papa, 
that I will learn a trade and that I will be the consolation 
and the staff of your old age.” 

Geppetto’s eyes filled with tears and his heart was sad at 
seeing his poor Pinocchio in such a pitiable state. He did 
not say another word, hut, taking his tools and two small 
pieces of well-seasoned wood, he set to work with great diligence. 

In less than an hour the feet were finished: two little 
feet — swift, well-knit and nervous. They might have been 
modelled by an artist of genius. 

Geppetto then said to the puppet: 

“Shut your eyes and go to sleep!” 

And Pinocchio shut his eyes and pretended to be asleep. 

And whilst he pretended to sleep, Geppetto, with a little 
glue which he had melted in an egg-shell, fastened his feet 
in their place, and it was so well done that not even a trace 
could be seen of where they were joined. 

No sooner had the puppet discovered that he had feet 
than he jumped down from the table on which he was lying 
and began to spring and to cut a thousand capers about the 
room, as if he had gone mad with the greatness of his delight. 

“To reward you for what you have done for me,” said 
Pinocchio to his father, “I will go to school at once.” 

“Good hoy.” 


THE ADVENTURES OF PXNOCCIIIO 


37 


“But to go to school I shall want some clothes.” 

Geppetto, who was poor and who had not so much as a 
penny in his pocket, then made him a little dress of flowered 
paper, a pair of shoes from the bark of a tree, and a cap 
of the crumb of bread. 

Pinocchio ran immediately to look at himself in a crock 
of water, and he was so pleased with his appearance that he 
said, strutting about like a peacock: 

“I look quite like a gentleman!” 

“Yes, indeed,” answered Geppetto, “for bear in mind 
that it is not fine clothes that make the gentleman, but rather 
clean clothes.” 

“By the bye,” added the puppet, “to go to school I am 
still in want — indeed, I am without the best thing, and the 
most important.” 

“And what is it?” 

“I have no spelling-book.” 

“You are right: but what shall we do to get one?” 

“It is quite easy. We have only to go to the bookseller’s 
and buy it.” 

“And the money?” 

“I have got none.” 

“Neither have I,” added the good old man, very sadly. 

And Pinocchio, although he was a very merry boy, be- 
came sad also, because poverty, when it is real poverty, is 
understood by everybody — even by boys.” 

“Well, patience!” exclaimed Geppetto, all at once rising 
to his feet, and putting on his old corduroy coat, all patched 
and darned, he ran out of the house. 


38 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


He returned shortly, holding in his hand a spelling-book 
for Pinocchio, but the old coat was gone. The poor man was 
in his shirt-sleeves and out of doors it was snowing. 

“And the coat, papa?” 

“I have sold it.” 

“Why did you sell it?” 

“Because I found it too hot.” 

Pinocchio understood this answer in an instant, and unable 
to restrain the impulse of his good heart he sprang up and, 
throwing his arms around Geppetto’s neck, he began kissing 
him again and again. 


CHAPTER IX 


PINOCCHIO GOES TO SEE A PUPPET-SHOW 
S soon as it stopped snowing Pinocchio set out for school 



TXwith his fine spelling-book under his arm. As he went 
along he began to imagine a thousand things in his little brain 
and to build a thousand castles in the air, one more beautiful 
than the other. 

And, talking to himself, he said: 

“Today at school I will learn to read at once; then to- 
morrow I will begin to write, and the day after tomorrow 
to figure. Then, with my acquirements, I will earn a great 
deal of money, and with the first money I have in my pocket 
I will immediately buy for my papa a beautiful new cloth 
coat. But what am I saying? Cloth, indeed! It shall he 
all made of gold and silver, and it shall have diamond buttons. 
That poor man really deserves it, for to buy me hooks and 
have me taught he has remained in his shirt-sleeves. And in 
this cold! It is only fathers who are capable of such sacrifices!” 

Whilst he was saying this with great emotion, he thought 
that he heard music in the distance that sounded like fifes 
and the beating of a big drum: Fi-fie-fi, fi-fi-fi; zum, zum, zum. 

He stopped and listened. The sounds came from the end 
of a cross street that led to a little village on the seashore. 

“What can that music be? What a pity that I have to 
go to school, or else ” 


39 


40 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


And he remained irresolute. It was, however, necessary 
to come to a decision. Should he go to school? or should he 
go after the fifes? 

“Today I will go and hear the fifes, and tomorrow I 
will go to school,” finally decided the young scapegrace, shrug- 
ging his shoulders. 

The more he ran the nearer came the sounds of the 
fifes and the beating of the big drum: Fi-fi-fi; zum, zum, 
zum, zum. 

At last he found himself in the middle of a square quite 
full of people, who were all crowded round a building made 
of wood and canvas, and painted a thousand colors. 

“What is that building?” asked Pinocchio, turning to a 
little boy who belonged to the place. 

“Read the placard — it is all written — and then you will 
know.” 

“I would read it willingly, but it so happens that today 
I don’t know how to read.” 

“Bravo, blockhead! Then I wilt read it to you. The writ- 
ing on that placard in those letters red as fire is: 

“The Great Puppet Theater/' 

“Has the play begun long?” 

“It is beginning now.” 

“How much does it cost to go in?” 

“A dime.” 

Pinocchio, who was in a fever of curiosity, lost all control 
of himself, and without any shame he said to the little boy 
to whom he was talking: 

“Would you lend me a dime until tomorrow?” 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


41 


“I would lend it to you willingly,” said the other, “but 
it so happens that today I cannot give it to you.” 

“I will sell you my jacket for a dime,” the puppet then 
said to him. 

“What do you think that I could do with a jacket of 
llowered paper? If there were rain and it got wet it would 
he impossible to get it off my back.” 

“Will you buy my shoes?” 

“They would only be of use to light the fire.” 

“How much will you give me for my cap?” 

“That would be a wonderful acquisition indeed! A cap 
of bread crumb! There would be a risk of the mice coming 
to eat it whilst it was on my head.” 

Pinocchio was on thorns. He was on the point of making 
another offer, but he had not the courage. He hesitated, felt 
irresolute and remorseful. At last he said: 

“Will you give me a dime for this new spelling-book?” 

“I am a boy and I don’t buy from boys,” replied his little 
interlocutor, who had much more sense than he had. 

“I will buy the spelling-book for a dime,” called out a 
hawker of old clothes, who had been listening to the con- 
versation. 

And the book was sold there and then. And to think 
that poor Geppetto had remained at home trembling with cold 
in his shirt-sleeves in order that his son should have a spell- 
ing-book. 


CHAPTER X 


THE PUPPETS RECOGNIZE THEIR BROTHER PINOCCHIO 

W HEN Pinocchio came into the little puppet theater, an 
incident occurred that almost produced a revolution. 

The curtain had gone up and the play had already begun. 

On the stage Harlequin and Punch were as usual quar- 
relling with each other and threatening every moment to come 
to blows. 

All at once Harlequin stopped short and, turning to the 
public, he pointed with his hand to some one far down in 
the pit and exclaimed in a dramatic tone: 

“Gods of the firmament! Ho I dream or am I awake? 
But surely that is Pinocchio!” 

“It is indeed Pinocchio!” cried Punch. 

“It is indeed himself!” screamed Miss Rose, peeping from 
behind the scenes. 

“It is Pinocchio! it is Pinocchio!” shouted all the puppets 
in chorus, leaping from all sides on to the stage. “It is 
Pinocchio! It is our brother Pinocchio! Long live Pinocchio!” 

“Pinocchio, come up here to me,” cried Elarlequin, “and 
throw yourself into the arms of your wooden brothers!” 

At this affectionate invitation Pinocchio made a leap from 
the end of the pit into the reserved ceats; another leap landed 


42 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


43 


him on the head of the leader of the orchestra, and he then 
sprang upon the stage. 

The embraces, the friendly pinches, and the demonstra- 
tions of warm brotherly affection that Pinocchio received from 
the excited crowd of actors and actresses of the puppet dra- 
matic company are beyond description. 

The sight was doubtless a moving one, but the public in 
the pit, finding that the play was stopped, became impatient 
and began to shout: “We will have the play — go on with 
the play!” 

It was all breath thrown away. The puppets, instead of 
continuing the recital, redoubled their noise and outcries, and, 
putting Pinocchio on their shoulders, they carried him in tri- 
umph before the footlights. 

At that moment out came the showman. He was very 
big, and so ugly that the sight of him was enough to frighten 
anyone. His beard was as black as ink, and so long that it 
reached from his chin to the ground. I need only say that 
he trod upon it when he walked. His mouth was as big as 
an oven, and his eyes were like two lanterns of red glass with 
lights burning inside them. He carried a large whip made of 
snakes and foxes’ tails twisted together, which he cracked 
constantly. 

At his unexpected appearance there was a profound silence : 
no one dared to breathe. A fly might have been heard in the 
stillness. The poor puppets of both sexes trembled like so 
many leaves. 

“Why have you come to raise a disturbance in my theater?” 
asked the showman of Pinocchio, in the gruff voice of a hob- 
goblin suffering from a severe cold in the head. 

“Believe me, honored sir, it was not my fault!” 


44 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“That is enough! Tonight we will settle our accounts.” 

As soon as the play was over the showman went into the 
kitchen, where a fine sheep, preparing for his supper, was turn- 
ing slowly on the spit in front of the fire. As there was not 
enough wood to finish roasting and browning it, he called 
Harlequin and Punch, and said to them: 

“Bring that puppet here: you will find him hanging on 
a nail. It seems to me that he is made of very dry wood and 
I am sure that if he were thrown on the fire he would make 
a beautiful blaze for the roast.” 

At first Harlequin and Punch hesitated; but, appalled by 
a severe glance from their master, they obeyed. In a short 
time they returned to the kitchen carrying poor Pinocchio, who 
was wriggling like an eel taken out of Water and screaming 
desperately: “Papa! papa! save me! I will not die, I will 
not die!” 



CHAPTER XI 

FIRE-EATER SNEEZES AND PARDONS PINOCCHIO 

r |^HE showman, Fire-Eater — for that was his name — looked 
A like a wicked man, especially with his black beard that 
covered his chest and legs like an apron. On the whole, how- 
ever, he had not a bad heart. In proof of this, when he saw 
poor Pinocchio brought before him, struggling and screaming 
“I will not die, I will not die!” he was quite moved and felt 
very sorry for him. He tried to hold out, hut after a little 
he could stand it no longer and he sneezed violently. When 
he heard the sneeze, Harlequin, who up to that moment had 
been in the deepest affliction and bowed down like a weeping 
willow, became quite cheerful and, leaning towards Pinocchio, 
he whispered to him softly: 

“Good news, brother. The showman has sneezed and that 
is a sign that he pities you, and consequently you are saved.” 

45 


46 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCIIIO 


Most men, when they feel compassion for somebody, either 
weep or at least pretend to dry their eyes. Fire-Eater, on 
the contrary, whenever he was really overcome, had the habit 
of sneezing. 

After he had sneezed, the showman, still acting the ruffian, 
shouted to Pinocchio: 

“Have done crying! Your lamentations have given me 

a pain in my stomach. I feel a spasm that almost Etchoo! 

etchoo!” and he sneezed again twice. 

“Bless you!” said Pinocchio. 

“Thank you! And your papa and your mamma, are they 
still alive?” asked Fire-Eater. 

“Papa, yes; my mamma I have never known.” 

“Who can say what a sorrow it would be for your poor 
old father if I were to have you thrown amongst those burn- 
ing coals! Poor old man! I pity him! Etchoo! etchoo! 
etchoo!” and he sneezed again three times. 

“Bless you” said Pinocchio. 

“Thank you! All the same, some compassion is due to 
me, for as you see I have no more wood with which to finish 
roasting my mutton, and, to tell you the truth, under the cir- 
cumstances you would have been of great use to me! How- 
ever, I have had pity on you, so I must have patience. Instead 
of you I will burn under the spit one of the puppets belong- 
ing to my company. Ho there, gendarmes!” 

At this call two wooden gendarmes immediately appeared. 
They were very long and very thin, and had on cocked hats, 
and held unsheathed swords in their hands. 

The showman said to them in a hoarse voice: 

“Take Harlequin, bind him securely, and then throw him 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


47 


on the fire to burn. I am determined that my mutton shall 
be well roasted.” 

Only imagine that poor Harlequin! His terror was so 
great that his legs bent under him, and he fell with his face 
on the ground. 

At this agonizing sight Pinocchio, weeping bitterly, threw 
himself at the showman’s feet and, bathing his long beard with 
his tears, he began to say, in a supplicating voice: 

“Have pity, Sir Fire-Eater!” 

“Here there are no sirs,” the showman answered severely. 

“Have pity, Sir Knight!” 

“Here there are no knights!” 

“Have pity, Commander!” 

“Here there are no commanders!” 

“Have pity, Excellence!” 

Upon hearing himself called Excellence the showman 
began to smile and became at once kinder and more tractable. 
Turning to Pinocchio, he asked: 

“Well, what do you want from me?” 

“I implore you to pardon poor Harlequin.” 

“For him there can be no pardon. As I have spared you 
he must be put on the fire, for I am determined that my 
mutton shall be well roasted.” 

“In that case,” cried Pinocchio proudly, rising and throw- 
ing away his cap of bread crumb — “in that case I know my 
duty. Come on, gendarmes! Bind me and throw me amongst 
the flames. No, it is not just that poor Harlequin, my true 
friend, should die for me!” 


48 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


These words, pronounced in a loud, heroic voice, made all 
the puppets who were present cry. Even the gendarmes, 
although they were made of wood, wept like two newly born 
lambs. 

Fire-Eater at first remained as hard and unmoved as ice, 
but little by little he began to melt and to sneeze. And, 
having sneezed four or five times, he opened his arms affection- 
ately and said to Pinocchio: 

“You are a good, brave boy! Come here and give me 
a kiss.” 

Pinocchio ran at once and, climbing like a squirrel up the 
showman’s beard, he deposited a hearty kiss on the point of 
his nose. 

“Then the pardon is granted?” asked poor Harelquin in 
a faint voice that was scarcely audible. 

“The pardon is granted!” answered Fire-Eater; he then 
added, sighing and shaking his head: 

“I must have patience! Tonight I shall have to resign 
myself to eat the mutton half raw; but another time, woe to 
him who displeases me!” 

At the news of the pardon the puppets all ran to the 
stage and, having lighted the lamps and chandeliers as if for 
a full-dress performance, they began to leap and to dance 
merrily. At dawn they were still dancing. 


CHAPTER XII 



PINOCCHIO RECEIVES A PRESENT OF FIVE GOLD PIECES 

T HE following day Fire-Eater called Pinocchio to one side 
and asked him: 

“What is your father’s name?” 

“Geppetto.” 

“And what trade does he follow?” 

“He is a beggar.” 

“Does he gain much?” 

“Gain much? Why, he has never a penny in his pocket. 
Only think, in order to buy a spelling-book so that I could 
go to school he was obliged to sell the only coat he had to 
wear — a coat that, between patches and darns, was not fit to 
be seen.” 


49 


50 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“Poor devil! I feel almost sorry for him! Here are five 
gold pieces. Go at once and take them to him with my com- 
pliments.” 

Pinocchio was overjoyed and thanked the showman a thou- 
sand times. He embraced all the puppets of the company one 
by one, even to the gendarmes, and set out to return home. 

But he had not gone far when he met on the road a 
Fox lame of one foot, and a Cat blind of both eyes, and they 
were going along helping each other like good companions in 
misfortune. The Fox, who was lame, walked leaning on the 
Cat; and the Cat, who was blind, was guided by the Fox. 

“Good-day, Pinocchio,” said the Fox, greeting him politely. 

“How do you come to know my name?” asked the puppet. 

“I know your father well.” 

“Where did you see him?” 

“I saw him yesterday at the door of his house.” 

“And what was he doing?” 

“He was in his shirt-sleeves and shivering with cold.” 

“Poor papa! But that is over; for the future he shall 
shiver no more!” 

“Why?” 

“Because I have become a gentleman.” 

“A gentleman — you!” said the Fox, and he began to laugh 
rudely and scornfully. The Cat also began to laugh, but to 
conceal it she combed her whiskers with her forepaws. 

“There is little to laugh at,” cried Pinocchio angrily. “I 
am really sorry to make your mouth water, but if you know 
anything about it, you can see that these are five gold pieces/' 

































































































' 












SPLASH! SPLASH! THEY FELL INTO THE VERY 
MIDDLE OF THE DITCH 




THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


53 


And he pulled out the money that Fire-Eater had given him. 

At the jingling of the money the Fox, with an involun- 
tary movement, stretched out the paw that seemed crippled, 
and the Cat opened wide two eyes that looked like two green 
lanterns. It is true that she shut them again, and so quickly 
that Pinocchio observed nothing. 

“And now,” asked the Fox, “what are you going to do 
with all that money?” 

“First of all,” answered the puppet, “I intend to buy a 
new coat for my papa, made of gold and silver, and witli 
diamond buttons ; and then I will buy a spelling-hook for 
myself.” 

“For yourself?” 

“Yes indeed, for I wish to go to school to study in earnest.” 

“Look at me!” said the Fox. “Through my foolish pas- 
sion for study I have lost a leg.” 

“Look at me!” said the Cat. “Through my foolish passion 
for study I have lost the sight of both my eyes.” 

At that moment a white Blackbird, that was perched on 
the hedge by the road, began his usual song, and said: 

“Pinocchio, don’t listen to the advice of bad companions; 
if you do you will repent it!” 

Poor Blackbird! If only he had not spoken! The Cat, 
with a great leap, sprang upon him, and without even giving 
him time to say “Oh!” ate him in a mouthful, feathers and all. 

Having eaten him and cleaned her mouth she shut her 
eyes again and feigned blindness as before. 

“Poor Blackbird!” said Pinocchio to the Cat, “why did 
you treat him so badly?” 


54 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“I did it to give him a lesson. He will learn another 
time not to meddle in other people’s conversation.” 

They had gone almost half-way when the Fox, halting 
suddenly, said to the puppet: 

“Would you like to double your money?” 

“In what way?” 

“Would you like to make out of your five miserable sov- 
ereigns, a hundred, a thousand, two thousand?” 

“I should think so! but in what way?” 

“The way is easy enough. Instead of returning home 
you must go with us.” 

“And where do you wish to take me?” 

“To the land of the Owls.” 

Pinocchio reflected a moment, and then he said resolutely: 

“No, I will not go. I am already close to the house, and 
I will return home to my papa, who is waiting for me. Who 
can tell how often the poor old man must have sighed yester- 
day when I did not come back! I have indeed been a bad 
son, and the Talking-Cricket was right when he said: ‘Dis- 
obedient boys never come to any good in the world.’ I have 
found it to be true, for many misfortunes have happened to 

me. Even yesterday in Fire-Eater’s house I ran the risk 

Oh! it makes me shudder only to think of it!” 

“Well, then,” said the Fox, “you are quite decided to go 
home? Go, then, and so much the worse for you.” 

“So much the worse for you!” repeated the Cat. 

“Think well of it, Pinocchio, for you are giving a kick 
to fortune.” 

“To fortune!” repeated the Cat. 


THE ADVENTURES OF FlNOCCHlO 


55 


“Between today and tomorrow your five sovereigns would 
have become two thousand.” 

“Two thousand!” repeated the Cat. 

“But how is it possible that they could become so many?” 
asked Pinocchio, remaining with his mouth open from aston- 
ishment. 

“I will explain it to you at once,” said the Fox. “You 
must know that in the land of the Owls there is a sacred 
field called by everybody the Field of Miracles. In this field 
you must dig a little hole, and you put into it, we will say, 
one gold sovereign. You then cover up the hole with a little 
earth; you must water it with two pails of water from the 
fountain, then sprinkle it with two pinches of salt, and when 
night comes you can go quietly to bed. In the meanwhile, 
during the night, the gold piece will grow and flower, and 
in the morning when you get up and return to the field, what 
do you find? You find a beautiful tree laden with as many 
gold sovereigns as a fine ear of corn has grains in the month 
of June.” 

“So that,” said Pinocchio, more and more bewildered, “sup- 
posing I buried my five sovereigns in that field, how many 
should I find there the following morning?” 

“That is an exceedingly easy calculation,” replied the Fox, 
“a calculation that you can make on the ends of your fingers. 
Every sovereign will give you an increase of five hundred; 
multiply five hundred by five, and the following morning will 
find you with two thousand five hundred shining gold pieces 
in your pocket.” 

“Oh! how delightful!” cried Pinocchio, dancing for joy. 
“As soon as ever I have obtained those sovereigns, I will keep 


56 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


two thousand for myself and the other five hundred I will 
make a present of to you two.” 

“A present to us?” cried the Fox with indignation and 
appearing much offended. “What are you dreaming of?” 

“What are you dreaming of?” repeated the Cat. 

“We do not work,” said the Fox, “for interest: we work 
solely to enrich others.” 

“Others!” repeated the Cat. 

“What good people!” thought Pinocchio to himself, and, 
forgetting there and then his papa, the new coat, the spelling- 
book, and all his good resolutions, he said to the Fox and 
the Cat: 

“Let us be off at once. I will go with you.” 


CHAPTER XIII 


THE INN OF THE RED CRAW-FISH 

T HEY walked, and walked, and walked, until at last, towards 
evening, they arrived, all tired out, at the inn of The 
Red Craw-Fish. 

“Let us stop here a little,” said the Fox, “that we may 
have something to eat, and rest ourselves for an hour or two. 
We will start again at midnight, so as to arrive at the Field 
of Miracles by dawn tomorrow morning.” 

Having gone into the inn they all three sat down to table, 
hut none of them had any appetite. 

The Cat, who was suffering from indigestion and feeling 
seriously indisposed, could only eat thirty-five fish with tomato 
sauce and four portions of tripe with Parmesan cheese; and 

57 


58 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


because she thought the tripe was not seasoned enough, she 
asked three times for the butter and grated cheese! 

The Fox would also willingly have picked a little, but as 
his doctor had ordered him a strict diet, he was forced to con- 
tent himself simply with a hare dressed with a sweet and sour 
sauce, and garnished lightly with fat chickens and early pullets. 
After the hare he sent for a made dish of partridges, rabbits, 
frogs, lizards and other delicacies; he could not touch anything 
else. He cared so little for food, he said, that he could jmt 
nothing to his lips. 

The one who ate the least was Pinocchio. He asked for 
some walnuts and a hunch of bread, and left everything on 
his plate. The poor boy’s thoughts were continually fixed on 
the Field of Miracles. 

When they had supped, the Fox said to the host: 

“Give us two good rooms, one for Mr. Pinocchio, and 
the other for me and my companion. We will snatch a little 
sleep before we leave. Remember, however, that at midnight 
we wish to be called to continue our journey.” 

“Yes, gentlemen,” answered the host, and he winked at 
the Fox and the Cat, as much as to say: “I know what you 
are up to. We understand one another!” 

No sooner had Pinocchio got into bed than he fell asleep 
at once and began to dream. And he dreamed that he was 
in the middle of a field, and the field was full of shrubs covered 
with clusters of gold sovereigns, and as they swung in the wind 
they went zin, zin, zin, almost as if they would say: “Let 
who will, come and take us.” But just as Pinocchio was 
stretching out his hand to pick handfuls of those beautiful 
gold pieces and to put them in his pocket, he was suddenly 
awakened by three violent blows on the door of his room. 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


59 


It was the host who had come to tell him that midnight 
had struck. 

Are my companions ready?” asked the puppet. 

Ready! Why, they left two hours ago.” 

“Why were they in such a hurry?” 

“Because the Cat had received a message to say that her 
eldest kitten was ill with chilblains on his feet and was in 
danger of death.” 

“Did they pay for the supper?” 

“What are you thinking of? They are too well educated 
to dream of offering such an insult to a gentleman like you.” 

“What a pity! It is an insult that would have given me 
so much pleasure!” said Pinocchio, scratching his head. He 
then asked : 

“And where did my good friends say they would wait 
for me?” 

“At the Field of Miracles, tomorrow morning at daybreak.” 

Pinocchio paid a sovereign for his supper and that of his 
companions, and then left. 

Outside the inn it was so pitch dark that he had almost 
to grope his way, for it was impossible to see a hand’s breadth 
in front of him. Some night-birds flying across the road from 
one hedge to the other brushed Pinocchio’s nose with their 
wings as they passed, which caused him so much terror that, 
springing back, he shouted: “Who goes there?” and the echo 
in the surrounding hills repeated in the distance: “Who goes 
there? Who goes there?” 

As he was walking along he saw a little insect shining 
dimly on the trunk of a tree, like a night-light in a lamp of 
transparent china. 


60 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“Who are you?” asked Pinocchio. 

“I am the ghost of the Talking- Cricket,” answered the 
insect in a low voice, so weak and faint that it seemed to come 
from the other world. 

“What do you want with me?” said the puppet. 

“I want to give you some advice. Go back and take the 
four sovereigns that you have left to your poor father, who 
is weeping and in despair because you have not returned to him.” 

“By tomorrow my papa will be a gentleman, for these 
four sovereigns will have become two thousand.” 

“Don’t trust to those who promise to make you rich in 
a day. Usually they are either mad or rogues! Give ear 
to me, and go back, my boy.” 

“On the contrary, I am determined to go on.” 

“The hour is late!” 

“I am determined to go on.” 

“The night is dark!” 

“I am determined to go on.” 

“The road is dangerous!” 

“I am determined to go on.” 

“Remember that boys who are bent on following their 
caprices, and will have their own way, sooner or later repent it.” 

“Always the same stories. Good-night, Cricket.” 

“Good-night, Pinocchio, and may Heaven preserve you 
from dangers and from assassins.” 

No sooner had he said these words than the Talking- 
Cricket vanished suddenly like a light that has been blown 
out, and the road became darker than ever. 



CHAPTER XIV 

PINOCCHIO FALLS AMONGST ASSASSINS 

R EALLY,” said the puppet to himself, as he resumed his 
journey, “how unfortunate we poor boys are. Everybody 
scolds us and gives us good advice. See now; because I don’t 
choose to listen to that tiresome Cricket, who knows, according 
to him, how marly misfortunes are to happen to me! I am 
even to meet with assassins! That is, however, of little conse- 
quence, for I don’t believe in assassins — I have never believed 
in them. For me, I think that assassins have been invented 
purposely by papas to frighten boys who want to go out at 
night. Besides, supposing I was to come across them here in 
the road, do you imagine they would frighten me? Not the 
least in the world. I should go to meet them and cry: ‘Gen- 
tlemen assassins, what do you want with me? Remember that 
with me there is no joking. Therefore go about your business 

61 


62 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


and be quiet!’ At this speech they would run away like the 
wind. If, however, they were so badly educated as not to run 
away, why, then I would run away myself and there would 
be an end of it.” 

But Pinocchio had not time to finish his reasoning, for at 
that moment he thought that he heard a slight rustle of leaves 
behind him. 

He turned to look and saw in the gloom two evil-looking 
black figures completely enveloped in charcoal sacks. They 
were running after him on tiptoe and making great leaps like 
two phantoms. 

“Here they are in reality!” he said to himself and, not 
knowing where to hide his gold pieces, he put them in his 
mouth precisely under his tongue. 

Then he tried to escape. But he had not gone a step 
when he felt himself seized hv the arm and heard two horrid, 
sepulchral voices saying to him: 

“Your money or your life!” 

Pinocchio, not being able to answer in words, owing to 
the money that was in his mouth, made a thousand low bows 
and a thousand pantomimes. He tried thus to make the two 
muffled figures, whose eyes were only visible through the holes 
in their sacks, understand that he was a poor puppet, and that 
he had not as much as a counterfeit nickel in his pocket. 

“Come, now! Less nonsense and out with the money!” 
cried the two brigands threateningly. 

And the puppet made a gesture with his hands to signify: 
“I have none.” 

“Deliver up your money or you are dead,” said the tall- 
est of the brigands. 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


63 


“Dead!” repeated the other. 

“And after we have killed you, we will also kill your 
father !” 

“Also your father!” 

“No, no, no, not my poor papa!” cried Pinocchio in a 
despairing voice, and as he said it the sovereigns clinked in 
his mouth. 

“Ah! you rascal! Then you have hidden your money under 
your tongue! Spit it out at once!” 

Pinocchio was obstinate. 

“Ah! you pretend to he deaf, do you? Wait a moment, 
leave it to us to find a means to make you give it up.” 

And one of them seized the puppet by the end of his 
nose, and the other took him by the chin, and began to pull 
them brutally, the one up and the other down, to force him 
to open his mouth. But it was all to no purpose. Pinocchio’s 
mouth seemed to be nailed and riveted together. 

Then the shorter assassin drew out an ugly knife and tried 
to put it between his lips like a lever or chisel. But Pinocchio, 
as quick as lightning, caught his hand with his teeth, and with 
one bite bit it clear off and spat it out. Imagine his astonish- 
ment when instead of a hand he perceived that a cat’s paw 
lay on the ground. 

Encouraged by this first victory he used his nails to such 
purpose that he succeeded in liberating himself from his assail- 
ants, and, jumping the hedge by the roadside, he began to fly 
across the country. The assassins ran after him like two dogs 
chasing a hare, and the one who had lost a paw ran on one 
leg, and no one ever knew how he managed it. 

After a race of some miles Pinocchio could go no more. 


64 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


Giving himself up for lost, he climbed the trunk of a very 
high pine tree and seated himself in the topmost branches. The 
assassins attempted to climb after him, but when they had 
reached half-way up they slid down again and arrived on 
the ground with the skin grazed from their hands and knees. 

But they were not to be beaten by so little; collecting a 
quantity of dry wood, they piled it beneath the pine and set 
fire to it. In less time than it takes to tell, the pine began 
to burn and to flame like a candle blown by the wind. Pinoc- 
chio, seeing that the flames were mounting higher every instant, 
and not wishing to end his life like a roasted pigeon, made 
a stupendous leap from the top of the tree and started afresh 
across the fields and vineyards. The assassins followed him, 
and kept behind him without once giving up. 

The day began to break and they were still pursuing him. 
Suddenly Pinocchio found his way barred by a wide, deep 
ditch full of stagnant water the color of coffee. What was he 
to do? “One! two! three!” cried the puppet, and, making a 
rush, he sprang to the other side. The assassins also jumped, 
but not having measured the distance properly — splash! splash! 
they fell into the very middle of the ditch. Pinocchio, who 
heard the plunge and the splashing of the water, shouted out, 
laughing, and without stopping: 

“A fine bath to you, gentleman assassins.” 

And he felt convinced that they were drowned, when, 
turning to look, he perceived that, on the contrary, they were 
both running after him, still enveloped in their sacks, with 
the water dripping from them as if they had been two hollow 
baskets. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE ASSASSINS HANG PINOCCHIO TO THE BIG OAK 

A T this sight the puppet’s courage failed him and he was 
on the point of throwing himself on the ground and giv- 
ing himself over for lost. Turning, however, his eyes in every 
direction, he saw, at some distance, a small house as white 
as snow. 

“If only I had breath to reach that house,” he said to 
himself, “perhaps I should be saved.” 

And, without delaying an instant, he recommenced run- 
ning for his life through the wood, and the assassins after him. 

At last, after a desperate race of nearly two hours, he 
arrived quite breathless at the door of the house, and knocked. 

Xo one answered. 


65 


66 THE ADVENTURES OE PINOCCHIO 


He knocked again with great violence, for he heard the 
sound of steps approaching him and the heavy panting of his 
persecutors. The same silence. 

Seeing that knocking was useless, he began in desperation 
to kick and pommel the door with all his might. The window 
then opened and a beautiful Child appeared at it. She had 
blue hair and a face as white as a waxen image; her eyes were 
closed and her hands were crossed on her breast. Without 
moving her lips in the least, she said, in a voice that seemed 
to come from the other world: 

“In this house there is no one. They are all dead.” 

“Then at least open the door for me yourself,” shouted 
Pinocchio, crying and imploring. 

“I am dead also.” 

“Dead? Then what are you doing there at the window?” 

“I am waiting for the bier to come to carry me away.” 

Having said this she immediately disappeared and the 
window was closed again without the slightest noise. 

“Oh! beautiful Child with blue hair,” cried Pinocchio, 
“open the door, for pity’s sake! Have compassion on a poor 
boy pursued by assas ” 

But he could not finish the word, for he felt himself 
seized by the collar and the same two horrible voices said to 
him threateningly : 

“You shall not escape from us again!” 

The puppet, seeing death staring him in the face, was 
taken with such a violent fit of trembling that the joints of 
his wooden legs began to creak, and the sovereigns hidden 
under his tongue to clink. 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


67 


“Now, then,” demanded the assassins, “will you open your 
mouth — yes or no? Ah! no answer? Leave it to us: this 
time we will force you to open it!” 

And, drawing out two long, horrid knives as sharp as 
razors, clash! — they attempted to stab him twice. 

But the puppet, luckily for him, was made of very hard 
wood; the knives therefore broke into a thousand pieces and 
the assassins were left with the handles in their hands, staring 
at each other. 

“I see what we must do,” said one of them. “He must 
be hung! let us hang him!” 

“Let us hang him!” repeated the other. 

Without loss of time they tied his arms behind him, passed 
a running noose round his throat, and hung him to the branch 
of a tree called the Big Oak. 

They then sat down on the grass and waited for his last 
struggle. But at the end of three hours the puppet’s eyes 
were still open, his mouth closed, and he was kicking more 
than ever. 

Losing patience, they turned to Pinocchio and said in a 
bantering tone: 

“Good-bye till tomorrow. Let us hope that when we return 
you will be polite enough to allow yourself to be found quite 
dead, and with your mouth wide open.” 

And they walked off. 

In the meantime a tempestuous northerly wind began to 
blow and roar angrily, and it beat the poor puppet from 
side to side, making him swing violently, like the clatter of 
a hell ringing for a wedding. And the swinging gave him 


68 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCIIIO 


atrocious spasms, and the running noose, becoming still tighter 
round his throat, took away his breath. 

Little by little his eyes began to grow dim, but although 
he felt that death was near he still continued to hope that 
some charitable person would come to his assistance before it 
was too late. But when, after waiting and waiting, he found 
that no one came, absolutely no one, then be remembered his 
poor father, and, thinking he was dying, he stammered out: 

“Oh, papa! papa! if only you were here!” 

His breath failed him and lie could say no more. He 
shut his eyes, opened his mouth, stretched his legs, gave a long 
shudder, and hung stiff and insensible. 



FOUR RABBITS AS BLACK AS INK ENTERED CARRYING A LITTLE BIER 
































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* 












I. 




* 

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CHAPTER XVI 


THE BEAUTIFUL CHILD RESCUES THE PUPPET 


W HILE poor Pinocchio, suspended to a branch of the Big- 
Oak, was apparently more dead than alive, the beautiful 
Child with blue hair came again to the window. When she 
saw the unhappy puppet hanging by his throat, and dancing 
up and down in the gusts of the north wind, she was moved 
by compassion. Striking her hands together, she gave three 
little claps. 

At this signal there came a sound of the sweep of wings 
flying rapidly and a large Falcon flew on to the window-sill. 

“What are your orders, gracious Fairy?” he asked, in- 
clining his beak in sign of reverence. 

“Do you see that puppet dangling from a branch of the 
Big Oak?” 


71 


72 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“I see him.” 

“Very well. Fly there at once: with your strong beak 
break the knot that keeps him suspended in the air, and lay 
him gently on the grass at the foot of the tree.” 

The Falcon flew away and after two minutes he returned, 
saying : 

“I have done as you commanded.” 

“And how did you find him?” 

“To see him he appeared dead, hut he cannot really be 
quite dead, for I had no sooner loosened the running noose 
that tightened his throat than, giving a sigh, he muttered in 
a faint voice: ‘Now I feel better !’ ” 

The Fairy then struck her hands together twice and a 
magnificent Poodle appeared, walking upright on his hind 
legs exactly as if he had been a man. 

He was in the full-dress livery of a coachman. On his 
head he had a three-cornered cap braided with gold, his curly 
white wig came down on to his shoulders, he had a chocolate- 
colored waistcoat with diamond buttons, and two large pockets 
to contain the bones that his mistress gave him at dinner. 
He had, besides, a pair of short crimson velvet breeches, silk 
stockings, cut-down shoes, and hanging behind him a species 
of umbrella case made of blue satin, to put his tail into when 
the weather was rainy. 

“Be quick, Medoro, like a good dog!” said the Fairy to 
the Poodle. “Have the most beautiful carriage in my coach- 
house harnessed, and take the road to the wood. When you 
come to the Big Oak you will find a poor puppet stretched 
on the grass half dead. Pick him up gently and lay him flat 
on the cushions of the carriage and bring him here to me. Do 
you understand?” 


73 ' 


THE ADVENTURES OE PINOCCHIO 

The Poodle, to show that he had understood, shook the 
case of blue satin three or four times and ran off like a race- 
horse. 

Shortly afterwards a beautiful little carriage came out of 
the coach-house. The cushions were stuffed with canary feath- 
ers and it was lined on the inside with whipped cream, custard 
and vanilla wafers. The little carriage was drawn by a hun- 
dred pairs of white mice, and the Poodle, seated on the coach- 
box, cracked his whip from side to side like a driver when 
he is afraid that he is behind time. 

Scarcely had a quarter of an hour passed, when the car- 
riage returned. The Fairy, who was waiting at the door of 
the house, took the poor puppet in her arms and carried him 
into a little room that was wainscoted with mother-of-pearl. 
She sent at once to summon the most famous doctors in the 
neighborhood. 

They came immediately, one after the other: namely, a 
Crow, an Owl, and a Talking- Cricket. 

“I wish to know from you, gentlemen,” said the Fairy, 
“if this unfortunate puppet is alive or dead!” 

At this request the Crow, advancing first, felt Pinocchio’s 
j)ulse; he then felt his nose and then the little toe of his foot: 
and, having done this carefully, he pronounced solemnly the 
following words: 

“To my belief the puppet is already quite dead; but, if 
unfortunately he should not he dead, then it would be a sign 
that he is still alive!” 

“I regret,” said the Owl, “to he obliged to contradict the 
Crow, my illustrious friend and colleague; but, in my opinion, 
the puppet is still alive; but, if unfortunately he should not 
he alive, then it would be a sign that he is dead indeed!” 


1 4 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“And you — have you nothing to say?” asked the Fairy 
of the Talking-Cricket. 

“In my opinion, the wisest thing a prudent doctor can do, 
when he does not know wFat he is talking about, is to be 
silent. For the rest, that puppet there has a face that is 
not new to me. I have known him for some time!” 

Pinocchio, who up to that moment had lain immovable, 
like a real piece of wood, was seized with a fit of convulsive 
trembling that shook the whole bed. 

“That puppet there,” continued the Talking- Cricket, “is 
a confirmed rogue.” 

Pinocchio opened his eyes, but shut them again immediately. 

“He is a ragamuffin, a do-nothing, a vagabond.” 

Pinocchio hid his face beneath the clothes. 

“That puppet there is a disobedient son who will make 
his poor father die of a broken heart!” 

At that instant a suffocated sound of sobs and crying 
was heard in the room. Imagine everybody’s astonishment 
when, having raised the sheets a little, it was discovered that 
the sounds came from Pinocchio. 

“When a dead person cries, it is a sign that he is on 
the road to get well,” said the Crow solemnly. 

“I grieve to contradict my illustrious friend and colleague,” 
added the Owl; “but for me, when the dead person cries, it 
is a sign that he is sorry to die.” 



CHAPTER XVII 

PINOCCHIO WILL NOT TAKE HIS MEDICINE 

7TS soon as the three doctors had left the room the Fairy 
XjL approached Pinocchio and, having touched his forehead, 
she perceived that he was in a high fever. 

She therefore dissolved a certain white powder in half a 
tumbler of water and, offering it to the puppet, she said to 
him lovingly: 

“Drink it and in a few days you will be cured.” 

Pinocchio looked at the tumbler, made a wry face, and 
then asked in a plaintive voice: 

“Is it sweet or bitter?” 

“It is bitter, but it will do you good.” 

“If it is bitter, I will not take it.” 


75 


76 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“Listen to me: drink it.” 

“I don’t like anything bitter.” 

“Drink it, and when you have drunk it I will give you 
a lump of sugar to take away the taste.” 

“Where is the lump of sugar?” 

“Here it is,” said the Fairy, taking a piece from a gold 
sugar-basin. 

“Give me first the lump of sugar and then I will drink 
that bad bitter water.” 

“Do you promise me?” 

“Yes.” 

The Fairy gave him the sugar and Pinocchio, having 
crunched it up and swallowed it in a second, said, licking 
his lips: 

“It would be a fine thing if sugar were medicine! I 
would take it every day.” 

“Now keep your promise and drink these few drops of 
water, which will restore you to health.” 

Pinocchio took the tumbler unwillingly in his hand and 
put the point of his nose to it: he then approached it to his 
lips: he then again put his nose to it, and at last said: 

“It is too bitter! too bitter! I cannot drink it.” 

“How can you tell that, when you have not even tasted it?” 

“I can imagine it! I know it from the smell. I want 
first another lump of sugar and then I will drink it!” 

The Fairy then, with all the patience of a good mamma, 
put another lump of sugar in his mouth, and again presented 
the tumbler to him. 

“I cannot drink it so!” said the puppet, making a thou- 
sand grimaces. 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


77 


“Why?” 

“Because that pillow that is down there on my feet 
bothers me.” 

The Fairy removed the pillow. 

“It is useless. Even so I cannot drink it.” 

“What is the matter now?” 

“The door of the room, which is half open, bothers me.” 

The Fairy went and closed the door. 

“In short,” cried Pinocchio, bursting into tears, “I will 
not drink that bitter water — no, no, no!” 

“My boy, you will repent it.” 

“I don’t care.” 

“Your illness is serious.” 

“I don’t care.” 

“The fever in a few hours will carry you into the other 
world.” 

“I don’t care.” 

“Are you not afraid of death?” 

“I am not in the least afraid! I would rather die than 
drink that bitter medicine.” 

At that moment the door of the room flew open and 
four rabbits as black as ink entered carrying on their shoulders 
a little bier. 

“What do you want with me?” cried Pinocchio, sitting 
up in bed in a great fright. 

“We have come to take you,” said the biggest rabbit. 

“To take me? But I am not yet dead!” 

“No, not yet; but you have only a few minutes to live, 
as you have refused the medicine that would have cured you 
of the fever.” 


78 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“Oil, Fairy, Fairy!” the puppet then began to scream, 
“give me the tumbler at once; be quick, for pity’s sake, for 
I will not (lie — no, I will not die.” 

And, taking the tumbler in both hands, he emptied it 
at a gulp. 

“We must have patience!” said the rabbits; “this time 
we have made our journey in vain.” And, taking the little 
bier again on their shoulders, they left the room, grumbling 
and murmuring between their teeth. 

In fact, a few minutes afterwards, Pinocchio jumped down 
from the bed quite well, because wooden puppets have the 
privilege of being seldom ill and of being cured very quickly. 

The Fairy, seeing him running and rushing about the room 
as gay and as lively as a young cock, said to him: 

“Then my medicine has really done you good?” 

“Good? I should think so! It has restored me to life!” 

“Then why on earth did you require so much persuasion 
to take it?” 

“Because you see that we boys are all like that! We 
are more afraid of medicine than of the illness.” 

“Disgraceful! Boys ought to know that a good remedy 
taken in time may save them from a serious illness, and per- 
haps even from death.” 

“Oh! but another time I shall not require so much per- 
suasion. I shall remember those black rabbits with the bier 
on their shoulders and then I shall immediately take the 
tumbler in my hand, and down it will go!” 

“Now, come here to me and tell me how it came about 
that you fell into the hands of those assassins.” 

“You see, the showman, Fire-Eater, gave me some gold 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


79 


pieces and said to me: ‘Go, and take them to your father!’ 
and instead I met on the road a Fox and a Cat, who said 
to me: ‘Would you like those pieces of gold to become a 
thousand or two? Come with us and we will take you to 
the Field of Miracles,’ and I said: ‘Let us go.’ And they 
said: ‘Let us stop at the inn of The Red Craw-Fish,’ and after 
midnight they left. And when I awoke I found that they 
were no longer there, because they had gone away. Then I 
began to travel by night, for you cannot imagine how dark 
it was; and on that account I met on the road two assassins 
in charcoal sacks who said to me: ‘Out with your money,’ and 
I said to them: ‘I have got none,’ because I had hidden the 
four gold pieces in my mouth, and one of the assassins tried 
to put his hand in my mouth, and I bit his hand off and spat 
it out, but instead of a hand it was a cat’s paw. And the 
assassins ran after me, and I ran, and ran, until at last they 
caught me and tied me by the neck to a tree in this wood, and 
said to me: ‘Tomorrow we shall return here and then you 
will be dead with your mouth open and we shall be able to 
carry off the pieces of gold that you have hidden under your 
tongue.” 

“And the four pieces — where have you put them?” asked 
the Fairy. 

“I have lost them!” said Pinocchio, but he was telling a 
lie, for he had them in his pocket. 

He had scarcely told the lie when his nose, which was 
already long, grew at once two inches longer. 

“And where did you lose them?” 

“In the wood near here.” 

At this second lie his nose went on growing. 


80 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“If you have lost them in the wood near here,” said the 
Fairy, “we will look for them and we shall find them: because 
everything that is lost in that wood is always found.” 

“Ah! now I remember all about it,” replied the puppet, 
getting quite confused; “I didn’t lose the four gold pieces, I 
swallowed them whilst I was drinking your medicine.” 

At this lie his nose grew to such an extraordinary length 
that poor Pinocchio could not move in any direction. If he 
turned to one side he struck his nose against the bed or the 
window-panes, if he turned to the other he struck it against 
the walls or the door, if he raised his head a little he ran the 
risk of sticking it into one of the Fairy’s eyes. 

And the Fairy looked at him and laughed. 

“What are you laughing at?” asked the puppet, very 
confused and anxious at finding his nose growing so prodig- 
iously. 

“I am laughing at the lie you have told. ” 

“And how can you possibly know that I have told a lie?” 

“Lies, my dear boy, are found out immediately, because 
they are of two sorts. There are lies that have short legs, 
and lies that have long noses. Your lie, as it happens, is one 
of those that have a long nose.” 

Pinocchio, not knowing where to hide himself for shame, 
tried to run out of the room; but lie did not succeed, for his 
nose had increased so much that it could no longer pass through 
the door. 


CHAPTER XVIII 


PINOCCHIO AGAIN MEETS THE EOX AND THE CAT 

T HE Fairy allowed the puppet to cry for a good half-hour 
over his nose, which could no longer pass through the 
door of the room. This she did to give him a severe lesson, 
and to correct him of the disgraceful fault of telling lies — 
the most disgraceful fault that a boy can have. But when 
she saw him quite disfigured and his eyes swollen out of his 
head from weeping, she felt full of compassion for him. She 
therefore beat hei hands together and at that signal a thou- 
sand large birds called Woodpeckers flew in at the window. 
They immediately perched on Pinocchio’s nose and began to 
peck at it with such zeal that in a few minutes his enormous 
and ridiculous nose was reduced to its usual dimensions. 

“What a good Fairy you are,” said the puppet, drying 
his eyes, “and how much I love you!” 


82 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“I love you also,” answered the Fairy; “and if you will 
remain with me you shall be my little brother and I will he 
your good little sister.” 

“I would remain willingly if it were not for my poor papa.” 

“I have thought of everything. I have already let your 
father know, and he will be here tonight.” 

“Really?” shouted Pinocchio, jumping for joy. “Then, 
little Fairy, if you consent, I should like to go and meet 
him. I am so anxious to give a kiss to that poor old man, 
who has suffered so much on my account, that I am counting 
the minutes.” 

“Go, then, hut be careful not to lose yourself. Take the 
road through the wood and I am sure that you will meet him.” 

Pinocchio set out, and as soon as he was in the wood he 
began to run like a kid. But when he had reached a certain 
spot, almost in front of the Big Oak, he stopped, because he 
thought he heard people amongst the bushes. In fact, two 
persons came out on to the road. Can you guess who they 
were? His two traveling companions, the Fox and the Cat, 
with whom he had supped at the inn of The Red Craw-Fish, 

“Why, here is our dear Pinocchio!” cried the Fox, kissing 
and embracing him. “How came you to be here?” 

“How come you to be here?” repeated the Cat. 

“It is a long story,” answered the puppet, “which I will 
tell you when I have time. But do you know that the other 
night, when you left me alone at the inn, I met with assassins 
on the road?” 

“Assassins! Oh, poor Pinocchio! And what did they want?” 

“They wanted to rob me of my gold pieces.” 

“Villains!” said the Fox. 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


83 


“Infamous villains!” repeated the Cat. 

“Rut I ran away from them,” continued the puppet, “and 
they followed me, and at last they overtook me and hung 
me to a branch of that oak tree.” 

And Pinocchio pointed to the Big Oak, which was two 
steps from them. 

“Is it possible to hear of anything more dreadful?” said 
the Fox. “In what a world we are condemned to live! Where 
can respectable people like us find a safe refuge?” 

Whilst they were thus talking Pinocchio observed that 
the Cat was lame of her front right leg, for in fact she had 
lost her paw with all its claws. He therefore asked her: 

“What have you done with your paw?” 

The Cat tried to answer, but became confused. There- 
fore the Fox said immediately: 

“My friend is too modest, and that is why she doesn’t 
speak. I will answer for her. I must tell you that an hour 
ago we met an old wolf on the road, almost fainting from 
want of food, who asked alms of us. Not having so much as 
a fish-bone to give him, what did my friend, who has really 
the heart of a Cgesar, do? She bit off one of her fore paws 
and threw it to that poor beast that he might appease his 
hunger.” 

And the Fox, in relating this, dried a tear. 

Pinocchio was also touched and, approaching the Cat, he 
whispered into her ear: 

“If all cats resembled you, how fortunate the mice would 

be!” 

“And now, what are you doing here?” asked the Fox of 
the puppet. 


84 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“I am waiting for my papa, whom I expect to arrive every 
moment.” 

“And your gold pieces?” 

“I have got them in my pocket, all but one that I spent 
at the inn of The Red Craw-Fish.” 

“And to think that, instead of four pieces, by tomorrow 
they might become one or two thousand! Why do you not 
listen to my advice? Why will you not go and bury them in 
the Field of Miracles?” 

“Today it is impossible; I will go another day.” 

“Another day it will be too late!” said the Fox. 

“Why?” 

“Because the field has been bought by a gentleman and 
after tomorrow no one will he allowed to bury money there.” 

“How far off is the Field of Miracles?” 

“Not two miles. Will you come with us? In half an 
hour you will be there. You can bury your money at once, 
and in a few minutes you will collect two thousand, and this 
evening you will return with your pockets full. Will you 
come with us?” 

Pinocchio thought of the good Fairy, old Geppetto, and 
the warnings of the Talking-Cricket, and he hesitated a little 
before answering. He ended, however, by doing as all boys 
do who have not a grain of sense and who have no heart — 
he ended by giving his head a little shake and saying to the 
Fox and the Cat: 

“Let us go: I will come with you.” 

And they went. 

After having walked half the day they reached a town 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


85 


that was called “Trap for Blockheads.” As soon as Pinocchio 
entered this town he saw that the streets were crowded with 
dogs who were yawning from hunger, shorn sheep trembling 
with cold, cocks without combs begging for a grain of Indian 
corn, large butterflies that could no longer fly because they 
had sold their beautiful colored wings, peacocks which had no 
tails and were ashamed to be seen, and pheasants that went 
scratching about in a subdued fashion, mourning for their bril- 
liant gold and silver feathers gone forever. 

In the midst of this crowd of beggars and shamefaced 
creatures some lordly carriage passed from time to time con- 
taining a Fox, or a thieving Magpie, or some other ravenous 
bird of prey. 

“And where is the Field of Miracles?” asked Pinocchio. 

“It is here, not two steps from us.” 

They crossed the town and, having gone beyond the walls, 
they came to a solitary field. 

“Here we are,” said the Fox to the puppet. “Now stoop 
down and dig with your hands a little hole in the ground and 
put your gold pieces into it.” 

Pinocchio obeyed. He dug a hole, put into it the four 
gold pieces that he had left, and then filled up the hole with 
a little earth. 

“Now, then,” said the Fox, “go to that canal close to us, 
fetch a can of water, and water the ground where you have 
sowed them.” 

Pinocchio went to the canal, and, as he had no can, he 
took off one of his old shoes and filling it with water he watered 
the ground over the hole. 

Fie then asked: 


86 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“Is there anything else to be done?” 

“Nothing else,” answered the Fox. “We can now go 
away. You can return in about twenty minutes and you will 
find a shrub already pushing through the ground, with its 
branches quite loaded with money.” 

The poor puppet, beside himself with joy, thanked the 
Fox and the Cat a thousand times, and promised them a beau- 
tiful present. 

“We wish for no presents,” answered the two rascals. “It 
is enough for us to have taught you the way to enrich yourself 
without undergoing hard work, and we are as happy as people 
out for a holiday.” 

Thus saying, they took leave of Pinocchio, and, wishing 
him a good harvest, went about their business. 


CHAPTER XIX 


PINOCCHIO IS ROBBED OF HIS MONEY 



IHE puppet returned to the town and began to count the 


X minutes one by one, and when he thought that it must 
he time he took the road leading to the Field of Miracles. 

And as he walked along with hurried steps his heart heat 
fast — tic, tac, tic, tac — like a drawing-room clock when it is 
really going well. Meanwhile he was thinking to himself : 

“And if, instead of a thousand gold pieces, I were to find 
on the branches of the tree two thousand? And instead of 
two thousand, supposing I found five thousand? and instead 
of five thousand, that I found a hundred thousand? Oh! what 
a fine gentleman I should then become! I would have a beau- 
tiful palace, a thousand little wooden horses and a thousand 
stables to amuse myself with, a cellar full of currant wine and 


88 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


sweet syrups, and a library quite full of candies, tarts, plum- 
cakes, macaroons, and biscuits with cream.” 

Whilst he was building these castles in the air he had 
arrived in the neighborhood of the field, and he stopped to look 
about for a tree with its branches laden with money, but he 
saw nothing. He advanced another hundred steps — nothing; 
he entered the field and went right up to the little hole where 
he had buried his sovereigns — and nothing. He then became 
very thoughtful and, forgetting the rules of society and good 
manners, he took his hands out of his pocket and gave his head 
a long scratch. 

At that moment he heard an explosion of laughter close 
to him and, looking up, he saw a large Parrot perched on a 
tree, who was pruning the few feathers he had left. 

“Why are you laughing?” asked Pinocchio in an angry 
voice. 

“I am laughing because in pruning my feathers I tickled 
myself under my wings.” 

The puppet did not answer, but went to the canal and, 
filling the same old shoe full of water, he proceeded to water 
the earth afresh that covered his gold pieces. 

While he was thus occupied another laugh, still more im- 
pertinent than the first, rang out in the silence of that soli- 
tary place. 

“Once for all,” shouted Pinocchio in a rage, “may I know, 
you ill-educated Parrot, what you are laughing at?” 

“I am laughing at those simpletons who believe in all the 
foolish things that are told them, and who allow themselves 
to be entrapped by those who are more cunning than they are.” 

“Are you perhaps speaking of me?” 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


89 ' 


“Yes, I am speaking of you, poor Pinocchio — of you who 
are simple enough to believe that money can he sown and 
gathered in fields in the same way as beans and gourds. I 
also believed it once and today I am suffering for it. Today — 
but it is too late — I have at last learned that to put a few 
pennies honestly together it is necessary to know how to earn 
them, either by the work of our own hands or by the clever- 
ness of our own brains.” 

“I don’t understand you,” said the puppet, who was 
already trembling with fear. 

“Have patience! I will explain myself better,” rejoined 
the Parrot. “You must know, then, that while you were in 
the town the Fox and the Cat returned to the field; they took 
the buried money and then fled like the wind. And now he 
that catches them will he clever.” 

Pinocchio remained with his mouth open and, not choosing 
to believe the Parrot’s words, he began with his hands and 
nails to dig up the earth that he had watered. And he dug, 
and dug, and dug, and made such a deep hole that a rick of 
straw might have stood upright in it, but the money was no 
longer there. 

He rushed hack to the town in a state of desperation and 
went at once to the Courts of Justice to denounce the two 
knaves who had robbed him to the judge. 

The judge was a big ape of the gorilla tribe, an old ape 
respectable for his age, his white beard, but especially for his 
gold spectacles without glasses that he was always obliged to 
wear, on account of an inflammation of the eyes that had 
tormented him for many years. 

Pinocchio related in the presence of the judge all the 
particulars of the infamous fraud of which he had been the 


90 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


victim. He gave the names, the surnames, and other details, 
of the two rascals, and ended by demanding justice. 

The judge listened with great benignity; took a lively 
interest in the story; was much touched and moved; and when 
the puppet had nothing further to say he stretched out his 
hand and rang a bell. 

At this summons two mastiffs immediately appeared dressed 
as gendarmes. The judge then, pointing to Pinocchio, said 
to them: 

“That poor devil has been robbed of four gold pieces; take 
him away and put him immediately into prison.” 

The puppet was pretrified on hearing this unexpected sen- 
tence and tried to protest; hut the gendarmes, to avoid losing 
time, stopped his mouth and carried him off to the lockup. 

And there he remained for four months — four long months 
— and he would have remained longer still if a fortunate chance 
had not released him. The young Emperor who reigned over 
the town of “Trap for Blockheads,” having won a splendid 
victory over his enemies, ordered great public rejoicings. There 
were illuminations, fireworks, horse races and velocipede races, 
and as a further sign of triumph he commanded that the prisons 
should he opened and all the prisoners freed. 

“If the others are to be let out of prison, I will go also,” 
said Pinocchio to the jailor. 

“No, not you,” said the jailor, “because you do not belong 
to the fortunate class.” 

“I beg your pardon,” replied Pinocchio, “I am also a 
criminal.” 

“In that case you are perfectly right,” said the jailor, and, 
taking off his hat and bowing to him respectfully, he opened 
the prison doors and let him escape. 


CHAPTER XX 


PINOCCHIO STARTS BACK TO THE FAIRY^S HOUSE 

OU can imagine Pinocchio’s joy when lie found himself 



X free. Without stopping to take breath he immediately 
left the town and took the road that led to the Fairy’s house. 

On account of the rainy weather the road had become a 
marsh into which he sank knee-deep. But the puppet would 
not give in. Tormented by the desire of seeing his father and 
his little sister with blue hair again, he ran on like a grey- 
hound, and as he ran he was splashed with mud from head to 
foot. And he said to himself as he went along: “How many 
misfortunes have happened to me. But I deserved them, for 
I am an obstinate, passionate puppet. I am always bent upon 
having my own way, without listening to those who wish me 
well, and who have a thousand times more sense than I have! 
But from this time forth I am determined to change and to 
become orderly and obedient. For at last I have seen that 
disobedient hoys come to no good and gain nothing. And 
has my papa waited for me? Shall I find him at the Fairy’s 
house? Poor man, it is so long since I last saw him: I am 
dying to embrace him and to cover him with kisses! And will 
the Fairy forgive me my had conduct to her? To think of 
all the kindness and loving care I received from her, to think 
that if I am now alive I owe it to her! Would it be possible 


91 


92 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


to find a more ungrateful boy, or one with less heart than 
I have?” 

Whilst he was saying this he stopped suddenly, frightened 
to death, and made four steps backwards. 

What had he seen? 

He had seen an immense Serpent stretched across the 
road. Its skin was green, it had red eyes, and a pointed tail 
that was smoking like a chimney. 

It would be impossible to imagine the puppet’s terror. He 
walked away to a safe distance and, sitting down on a heap 
of stones, waited until the Serpent should have gone about its 
business and left the road clear. 

He waited an hour; two hours; three hours; but the Ser- 
pent was always there, and even from a distance he could see 
the red light of his fiery eyes and the column of smoke that 
ascended from the end of his tail. 

At last Pinocchio, trying to feel courageous, approached 
to within a few steps, and said to the Serpent in a little soft, 
insinuating voice: 

“Excuse me, Sir Serpent, but would you be so good as 
to move a little to one side — just enough to allow me to pass?” 

He might as well have spoken to the wall. Nobody moved. 

He began again in the same soft voice: 

“You must know, Sir Serpent, that I am on my way 
home, where my father is waiting for me, and it is such a 
long time since I saw him last! Will you, therefore, allow 
me to continue my road?” 

He waited for a sign in answer to this request, but there 
was none; in fact, the Serpent, who up to that moment had 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


93 


been sprightly and full of life, became motionless and almost 
rigid. He shut his eyes and his tail ceased smoking. 

“Can he really be dead?” said Pinocchio, rubbing his hands 
with delight. He determined to jump over him and reach the 
other side of the road. But, just as he was going to leap, the 
Serpent raised himself suddenly on end, like a spring set in 
motion; and the puppet, drawing back, in his terror caught his 
feet and fell to the ground. 

And he fell sa. awkwardly that his head stuck in the mud 
and his legs went into the air. 

At the sight of the puppet kicking violently with his head 
in the mud, the Serpent went into convulsions of laughter, and 
laughed, and laughed, until he broke a blood-vessel in his chest 
and died. And that time he was really dead. 

Pinocchio then set off running, in hopes that he should 
reach the Fairy’s house before dark. But before long he began 
to suffer so dreadfully from hunger that he could not bear 
it, and he jumped into a field by the wayside, intending to 
pick some bunches of Muscatel grapes. Oh, that he had never 
done it! 

He had scarcely reached the vines when crack — his legs 
were caught between two cutting iron bars and he became so 
giddy with pain that stars of every color danced before his eyes. 

The poor puppet had been taken in a trap put there to 
capture some big polecats which were the scourge of the poul- 
try-yards in the neighborhood. 



CHAPTER XXI 

PINOCCHIO ACTS AS WATCH-DOG 

P INOCCHIO began to cry and scream, but his tears and 
groans were useless, for there was not a house to be seen, 
and not a living soul passed down the road. 

At last night came on. 

Partly from the pain of the trap, that cut his legs, and 
a little trom fear at finding himself alone in the dark in the 
midst of the fields, the puppet was on the point of fainting. 
Just at that moment he saw a Firefly flitting over his head. 
He called to it and said: 

“Oh, little Firefly, will you have pity on me and liberate 
me from this torture?” 

“Poor boy!” said the Firefly, stopping and looking at 
him with compassion; “but how could your legs have been 
caught by those sharp irons?” 


94 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


95 


“I came into the field to pick two bunches of these Mus- 
catel grapes, and ” 

“But were the grapes yours?” 

“No.” 

“Then who taught you to carry off other people’s prop- 
erty?” 

“I was so hungry.” 

“Hunger, my hoy, is not a good reason for appropriating 
what does not belong to us.” 

“That is true, that is true!” said Pinocchio, crying. “I 
will never do it again.” 

At this moment their conversation was interrupted by a 
slight sound of approaching footsteps. It was the owner of 
the field coming on tiptoe to see if one of the polecats that 
ate his chickens during the night had been caught in his trap. 

His astonishment was great when, having brought out his 
lantern from under his coat, he perceived that instead of a 
polecat a hoy had been taken 

“Ah, little thief,” said the angry peasant, “then it is you 
who carries off my chickens?” 

“No, it is not I; indeed it is not!” cried Pinocchio, sob- 
bing. “I only came into the field to take two bunches of 
grapes!” 

“He who steals grapes is quite capable of stealing chickens. 
Leave it to me, I will give you a lesson that you will not 
forget in a hurry.” 

Opening the trap, he seized the puppet by the collar and 
carried him to his house as if he had been a young lamb. 

When he reached the yard in front of the house he threw 


96 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


him roughly on the ground and, putting his foot on his neck, 
he said to him: 

“It is late and I want to go to bed; we will settle our 
accounts tomorrow. In the meanwhile, as the dog who kept 
guard at night died today, you shall take his place at once. 
You shall be my watch-dog.” 

And, taking a great collar covered with brass knobs, he 
strapped it so tightly round his throat that he was not able 
to draw his head out of it. A heavy chain attached to the 
collar was fastened to the wall. 

“If it should rain tonight,” he then said to him, “you can 
go and lie down in the kennel; the straw that has served as a 
bed for my poor dog for the last four years is still there. If 
unfortunately robbers should come, remember to keep your 
ears pricked and to bark.” 

After giving him this last injunction the man went into 
the house, shut the door, and put up the chain. 

Poor Pinocchio remained lying on the ground more dead 
than alive from the effects of cold, hunger and fear. From 
time to time he put his hands angrily to the collar that tight- 
ened his throat and said, crying: 

“It serves me right! Decidedly, it serves me right! I 
was determined to be a vagabond and a good-for-nothing. I 
would listen to bad companions, and that is why I always meet 
with misfortunes. If I had been a good little boy, as so many 
are; if I had remained at home with my poor papa, I should 
not now be in the midst of the fields and obliged to be the 
watch-dog to a peasant’s house. Oh, if I could be born again! 
But now it is too late and I must have patience!” 

Relieved by this little outburst, which came straight from 
his heart, he went into the dog-kennel and fell asleep. 



PINOCCHIO DISCOVERS THE ROBBERS 

H E had been sleeping heavily for about two hours when, 
towards midnight, he was aroused by a whispering of 
strange voices that seemed to come from the courtyard. Put- 
ting the point of his nose out of the kennel, he saw four little 
beasts with dark fur, that looked like cats, standing consult- 
ing together. But they were not cats; they were polecats — 
carnivorous little animals, especially greedy for eggs and young 
chickens. One of the polecats, leaving his companions, came 
to the opening of the kennel and said in a low voice: 

“Good evening, Melampo.” 

“My name is not Melampo,” answered the puppet. 

“Oh! then who are you?” 

“I am Pinocchio.” 


97 


98 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“And what are you doing here?” 

“I am acting as watch-dog.” 

“Then where is Melampo? Where is the old dog who 
lived in this kennel?” 

“He died this morning.” 

“Is he dead? Poor beast! He was so good. But, judg- 
ing you by your face, I should say that you were also a 
good dog.” 

“I beg your pardon, I am not a dog.” 

“Not a dog? Then what are you?” 

“I am a puppet.” 

“And you are acting as watch-dog?” 

“That is only too true — as a punishment.” 

“Well, then, I will offer you the same conditions that 
we made with the deceased Melampo, and I am sure you will 
be satisfied with them.” 

“What are these conditions?” 

“One night in every week you are to permit us to visit 
this poultry-yard as we have hitherto done, and to carry off 
eight chickens. Of these chickens seven are to be eaten by 
us, and one we will give to you, on the express understanding, 
however, that you pretend to be asleep, and that it never 
enters your head to bark and to waken the peasant.” 

“Did Melampo act in this manner?” asked Pinocchio. 

“Certainly, and we were always on the best terms with 
him. Sleep quietly, and rest assured that before we go we 
will leave by the kennel a beautiful chicken ready plucked for 
your breakfast tomorrow. Have we understood each other 
clearly?” 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 99 

“Only too clearly!” answered Pinocchio, and he shook his 
head threateningly, as much as to say: “You shall hear of 
this shortly!” 

The four polecats, thinking themselves safe, repaired to 
the poultry-yard, which was close to the kennel, and, having 
opened the wooden gate with their teeth and claws, they slipped 
in one hv one. But they had only just passed through when 
they heard the gate shut behind them with great violence. 

It was Pinocchio who had shut it, and for greater security 
he put a large stone against it to keep it closed. 

He then began to bark, and he barked exactly like a 
watch-dog: “Bow-wow, bow-wow.” 

Hearing the barking, the peasant jumped out of bed and, 
taking his gun, he came to the window and asked: 

“What is the matter?” 

“There are robbers!” answered Pinocchio. 

“Where are they?” 

“In the poultry-yard.” 

“I will come down directly.” 

In fact, in less time than it takes to say “Amen!” the 
peasant came down. He rushed into the poultry-yard, caught 
the polecats, and, having put them into a sack, he said to 
them in a tone of great satisfaction: 

“At last you have fallen into my hands! I might punish 
you, but I am not so cruel. I will content myself instead by 
carrying you in the morning to the innkeeper of the neighbor- 
ing village, who will skin and cook you as hares with a sweet 
and sour sauce. It is an honor that you don’t deserve, but 
generous people like me don’t consider such trifles!” 


loo THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


He then approached Pinocchio and began tc caress him, 
and amongst other things he asked him: 

“How did you manage to discover the four thieves? To 
think that Melampo, my faithful Melampo, never found out 
anything!” 

The puppet might then have told him the whole story; 
he might have informed him of the disgraceful conditions that 
had been made between the dog and the polecats; but he re- 
membered that the dog was dead and he thought to himself: 

“What is the good of accusing the dead? The dead are 
dead, and the best thing to be done is to leave them in peace!” 

“When the thieves got into the yard, were you asleep or 
awake?” the peasant went on to ask him. 

“I was asleep,” answered Pinocchio, “but the polecats woke 
me with their chatter and one of them came to the kennel and 
said to me: Tf you promise not to bark, and not to wake the 
master, we will make you a present of a fine chicken ready 
plucked!’ To think that they should have had the audacity 
to make such a proposal to me! For, although I am a puppet, 
possessing perhaps nearly all the faults in the world, there is 
one that I certainly will never be guilty of, that of making 
terms with, and sharing the gains of, dishonest people!” 

“Well said, my boy!” cried the peasant, slapping him on 
the shoulder. “Such sentiments do you honor; and as a proof 
of my gratitude I will at once set you at liberty, and you may 
return home.” 

And he removed the dog-collar. 



CHAPTER XXIII 


PINOCCHIO FLIES TO THE SEASHORE 

ITS soon as Pinocchio was released from the heavy and humil- 
il iating weight of the dog-collar he started off across the 
fields and never stopped until he had reached the high road 
that led to the Fairy’s house. He could see amongst the trees 
the top of the Big Oak to which he had been hung, but, although 
he looked in every direction, the little house belonging to the 
beautiful Child with the blue hair was nowhere visible. 

Seized with a sad presentiment, he began to run with all 
the strength he had left and in a few minutes he reached the 
field where the little white house had once stood. But it was 
no longer there. Instead of the house he saw a marble stone, 
on which were engraved these sad words: 

101 


102 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


HERE LIES 

THE CHILD WITH THE BLUE HAIR 
WHO DIED FROM SORROW 
BECAUSE SHE WAS ABANDONED BY HER 
LITTLE BROTHER PINOCCHIO 

I leave you to imagine the puppet’s feelings when he had 
with difficulty spelled out this epitaph. He fell with his face 
on the ground and, covering the tombstone with a thousand 
kisses, burst into an agony of tears. He cried all night and 
when morning came he was still crying, although he had no 
tears left, and his sobs and lamentations were so acute and 
heart-breaking that they aroused the echoes in the surround- 
ing hills. 

And as he wept he said: 

“Oh, little Fairy, why did you die? Why did I not die 
instead of you, I who am so wicked, whilst you were so good? 
And my papa? Where can he be? Oh, little Fairy, tell me 
where I can find him, for I want to remain with him always 
and never leave him again, never again! Oh, little Fairy, tell 
me that it is not true that you are dead! If you really love 
your little brother, come to life again. Does it not grieve 
you to see me alone and abandoned by everybody? If assassins 
come they will hang me again to the branch of a tree, and 
then I should die indeed. What do you imagine that I can 
do here alone in the world? Now that I have lost you and 
my papa, who will give me food? Where shall I go to sleep 
at night? Who will make me a new jacket? Oh, it would 
be better, a hundred times better, for me to die also! Yes, 
I want to die — oh! oh! oh!” 

And in his despair he tried to tear his hair, but his hair 













































































































































































































AN IMMENSE SERPENT STRETCHED ACROSS THE ROAD 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


105 


was made of wood so he could not even have the satisfaction 
of sticking his fingers into it. 

Just then a large Pigeon flew over his head and, stopping 
with distended wings, called down to him from a great height: 

“Tell me, child, what are you doing there?” 

“Don’t you see? I am crying!” said Pinocchio, raising 
his head towards the voice and rubbing his eyes with his jacket. 

“Tell me,” continued the Pigeon, “amongst your compan- 
ions, do you happen to know a puppet who is called Pinocchio?” 

“Pinocchio? Did you say Pinocchio?” repeated the pup- 
pet, jumping quickly to his feet. “I am Pinocchio!” 

At this answer the Pigeon descended rapidly to the ground. 
He was larger than a turkey. 

“Do you also know Geppetto?” he asked. 

“Do I know him! He is my poor papa! Has he perhaps 
spoken to you of me? Will you take me to him? Is he still 
alive? Answer me, for pity’s sake: is he still alive?” 

“I left him three days ago on the seashore.” 

“What was he doing?” 

“He was building a little boat for himself, to cross the 
ocean. For more than three months that poor man has been 
going all round the world looking for you. Not having suc- 
ceeded in finding you, he has now taken it into his head to go 
to the distant countries of the New World in search of you.” 

“How far is it from here to the shore?” asked Pinocchio 
breathlessly. 

“More than six hundred miles.” 

“Six hundred miles? Oh, beautiful Pigeon, what a fine 
thing it would he to have your wings!” 


106 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“If you wish to go, I will carry you there.” 

“How?” 

“On my back. Do you weigh much?” 

“I weigh next to nothing. I am as light as a feather.” 

And without waiting for more Pinocchio jumped at once 
on the Pigeon’s back and, putting a leg on each side of him 
as men do on horseback, he exclaimed joyfully: 

“Gallop, gallop, my little horse, for I am anxious to arrive 
quickly!” 

The Pigeon took flight and in a few minutes had soared 
so high that they almost touched the clouds. Finding himself 
at such an immense height the puppet had the curiosity to turn 
and look down; but his head spun round and he became so 
frightened to save himself from the danger of falling he wound 
his arms tightly round the neck of his feathered steed. 

They flew all day. Towards evening the Pigeon said: 

“I am very thirsty!” 

“And I am very hungry!” rejoined Pinocchio. 

“Let us stop at that dovecote for a few minutes and then 
we will continue our journey, so that we may reach the sea- 
shore by dawn tomorrow.” 

They went into a deserted dovecote, where they found 
nothing but a basin full of water and a basket full of vetch. 

The puppet had never in his life been able to eat vetch: 
according to him it made him sick. That evening, however, 
he ate to repletion, and when he had nearly emptied the basket 
he turned to the Pigeon and said to him: 

“I never could have believed that vetch was so good!” 

“Be assured, my boy,” replied the Pigeon, “that when 
hunger is real, and there is nothing else to eat, even vetch 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 10? 

becomes delicious. Hunger knows neither caprice nor greed- 
iness.’ ’ 

Having quickly finished their little meal they recommenced 
their journey and flew away. The following morning they 
reached the seashore. 

The Pigeon placed Pinocchio on the ground and, not wish- 
ing to be troubled with thanks for having done a good action, 
flew quickly away and disappeared. 

The shore was crowded with people who were looking 
out to sea, shouting and gesticulating. 

“What has happened?” asked Pinocchio of an old woman. 

“A poor father who has lost his son has gone away in a 
boat to search for him on the other side of the water, and 
today the sea is tempestuous and the little boat is in danger 
of sinking.” 

“Where is the little boat?” 

“It is out there in a line with my finger,” said the old 
woman, pointing to a little boat which, seen at that distance, 
looked like a nutshell with a very little man in it. 

Pinocchio fixed his eyes on it and after looking atten- 
tively he gave a piercing scream, crying: 

“It is my papa! It is my papa!” 

The boat, meanwhile, beaten by the fury of the waves, at 
one moment disappeared in the trough of the sea, and the next 
came again to the surface. Pinocchio, standing on the top of 
a high rock, kept calling to his father by name, and making 
every kind of signal to him with his hands, his handkerchief, 
and his cap. 

And, although he was so far off, Geppetto appeared to 
recognize his son, for he also took off his cap and waved it, 


108 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


and tried by gestures to make him understand that lie would 
have returned if it had been possible, but that the sea was so 
tempestuous that he could not use his oars or approach the shore. 

Suddenly a tremendous wave rose and the boat disap- 
peared. They waited, hoping it would come again to the sur- 
face, but it was seen no more. 

“Poor man!” said the fishermen who were assembled on 
the shore; murmuring a prayer, they turned to go home. 

Just then they heard a desperate cry and, looking back, 
they saw a little boy who exclaimed, as he jumped from a rock 
into the sea: 

“I will save my papa!” 

Pinocchio, being made of wood, floated easily and he swam 
like a fish. At one moment they saw him disappear under the 
water, carried down by the fury of the waves, and next he 
reappeared struggling with a leg or an arm. At last they lost 
sight of him and he was seen no more. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

PINOCCHIO FINDS THE FAIRY AGAIN 

P INOCCHIO, hoping to be in time to help his father, swam 
the whole night. 

And what a horrible night it was! The rain came down 
in torrents, it hailed, the thunder was frightful, and the flashes 
of lightning made it as light as day. 

Towards morning he saw a long strip of land not far off. 
It was an island in the midst of the sea. 

He tried his utmost to reach the shore, but it was all in 
vain. The waves, racing and tumbling over each other, knocked 
him about as if he had been a stick or a wisp of straw. At 
last, fortunately for him, a billow rolled up with such fury 
and impetuosity that he was lifted up and thrown far on to 
the sands. 


109 


110 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


lie fell with such force that, as he struck the ground, his 
ribs and all his joints cracked, but he comforted himself, saying: 

“This time also I have made a wonderful escape!” 

Little by little the sky cleared, the sun shone out in all 
his splendor, and the sea became as quiet and as smooth as oil. 

The puppet put his clothes in the sun to dry and began 
to look in every direction in hopes of seeing on the vast expanse 
of water a little boat with a little man in it. But, although 
he looked and looked, he could see nothing but the sky, and 
the sea, and the sail of some ship, but so far away that it seemed 
no bigger than a fly. 

“If I only knew what this island was called!” he said to 
himself. “If I only knew whether it was inhabited by civilized 
people — I mean, by people who have not the bad habit 
of hanging boys to the branches of the trees. But whom can 
I ask? Whom, if there is nobody?” 

This idea of finding himself alone, alone, all alone, in the 
midst of this great uninhabited country, made him so melan- 
choly that he was just beginning to cry. But at that moment, 
at a short distance from the shore, he saw a big fish swimming 
by; it was going quietly on its own business with its head out 
of the water. 

Not knowing its name, the puppet called to it in a loud 
voice to make himself heard: 

“Eh, Sir Fish, will you permit me a word with you?” 

“Two if you like,” answered the fish, who was a Dolphin, 
and so polite that few similar are to be found in any sea in 
the world. 

“Will you be kind enough to tell me if there are villages 
in this island where it would be possible to obtain something 
to eat, without running the danger of being eaten?” 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


111 


“Certainly there are,” replied the Dolphin. “Indeed, you 
will find one at a short distance from here.” 

“And what road must I take to go there?” 

“You must take that path to your left and follow your 
nose. You cannot make a mistake.” 

“Will you tell me another thing? You who swim about 

the sea all day and all night, have you by chance met a little 

boat with my papa in it?” 

“And who is your papa?” 

“He is the best papa in the world, whilst it would be 
difficult to find a worse son than I am.” 

“During the terrible storm last night,” answered the Dol- 
phin, “the little boat must have gone to the bottom.” 

“And my papa?” 

“He must have been swallowed by the terrible Dog-Fish, 
who for some days past has been spreading devastation and 
ruin in our waters.” 

“Is this Dog-Fish very big?” asked Pinocchio, who was 
already beginning to quake with fear. 

“Big!” replied the Dolphin. “That you may form some 
idea of his size, I need only tell you that he is bigger than a 
five-storied house, and that his mouth is so enormous and so 
deep that a railway train with its smoking engine could pass 
down his throat.” 

“Mercy upon us!” exclaimed the terrified puppet; and, 
putting on his clothes with the greatest haste, he said to the 
Dolphin : 

“Good-bye, Sir Fish; excuse the trouble I have given you, 
and many thanks for your politeness.” 


112 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


He then took the path that had been pointed out to him 
and began to walk fast — so fast, indeed, that he was almost 
running. And at the slightest noise he turned to look behind 
him, fearing that he might see the terrible Dog-Fish with a 
railway train in its mouth following him. 

After a walk of half an hour he reached a little village 
called “The Village of the Industrious Bees.” The road was 
alive with people running here and there to attend to their 
business ; all were at work, all had something to do. You 
could not have found an idler or a vagabond, not even if you 
had searched for him with a lighted lamp. 

“Ah!” said that lazy Pinocchio at once, “I see that this 
village will never suit me! I wasn’t born to work!” 

In the meanwhile he was tormented by hunger, for he had 
eaten nothing for twenty-four hours — not even vetch. What 
was he to do? 

There were only two ways by which he could obtain food — 
either by asking for a little work, or by begging for a nickel 
or for a mouthful of bread. 

He was ashamed to beg, for his father had always preached 
to him that no one had a right to beg except the aged and 
the infirm. The really poor in this world, deserving of com- 
passion and assistance, are only those who from age or sickness 
are no longer able to earn their own bread with the labor of 
their hands. It is the duty of every one else to work; and if 
they will not work, so much the worse for them if they suffer 
from hunger. 

At that moment a man came down the road, tired and 
panting for breath. Ele was dragging, alone, with fatigue and 
difficulty, two carts full of charcoal. 

Pinocchio, judging by his face that he was a kind man, 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


113 


approached him and, casting down his eyes with shame, he 
said to him in a low voice: 

“Would you have the charity to give me a nickel, for I 
am dying of hunger?” 

“You shall have not only a nickel,” said the man, “but I 
will give you a quarter, provided that you help me to drag 
home these two carts of charcoal.” 

“I am surprised at you!” answered the puppet in a tone 
of offense. “Let me tell you that I am not accustomed to do 
the work of a donkey: I have never drawn a cart!” 

“So much the better for you,” answered the man. “Then, 
my boy, if you are really dying of hunger, eat two fine slices 
of your pride, and be careful not to get indigestion.” 

A few minutes afterwards a mason passed down the road 
carrying on his shoulders a basket of lime. 

“Would you have the charity, good man, to give a nickel 
to a poor boy who is yawning for want of food?” 

“Willingly,” answered the man. “Come with me and 
carry the lime, and instead of a nickel I will give you a 
quarter.” 

“But the lime is heavy,” objected Pinocchio, “and I don’t 
want to tire myself.” 

“If you don’t want to tire yourself, then, my boy, amuse 
yourself with yawning, and much good may it do you.” 

In less than half an hour twenty other people went by, 
and Pinocchio asked charity of them all, but they all answered : 

“Are you not ashamed to beg? Instead of idling about 
the roads, go and look for a little work and learn to earn 
your bread.” 


114 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


At last a nice little woman carrying two cans of water 
came by. 

“Will you let me drink a little water out of your can?” 
asked Pinocchio, who was burning with thirst. 

“Drink, my boy, if you wish it!” said the little woman, 
setting down the two cans. 

Pinocchio drank like a fish, and as he dried his mouth 
he mumbled: 

“I have quenched my thirst. If I could only appease 
my hunger!” 

The good woman, hearing these words, said at once: 

“If you will help me to carry home these two cans of water 
I will give you a fine piece of bread.” 

Pinocchio looked at the can and answered neither yes 
nor no. 

“And besides the bread you shall have a nice dish of cauli- 
flower dressed with oil and vinegar,” added the good woman. 

Pinocchio gave another look at the can and answered 
neither yes nor no. 

“And after the cauliflower I will give you a beautiful 
bonbon full of syrup.” 

The temptation of this last dainty was so great that Pinoc- 
chio could resist no longer and with an air of decision he said: 

“I must have patience! I will carry the can to your house.” 

The can was heavy and the puppet, not being strong 
enough to carry it in his hand, had to resign himself to carry 
it on his head. 

When they reached the house the good little woman made 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


115 


Pinocchio sit down at a small table already laid and she placed 
before him the bread, the cauliflower and the honbon. 

Pinocchio did not eat, he devoured. His stomach was like 
an apartment that had been left empty and uninhabited for 
five months. 

When his ravenous hunger was somewhat appeased he 
raised his head to thank his benefactress, but he had no sooner 
looked at her than he gave a prolonged “Oh-h!” of astonish- 
ment and continued staring at her with wide open eyes, his 
fork in the air, and his mouth full of bread and cauliflower, 
as if he had been bewitched. 

“What has surprised you so much?” asked the good woman, 
laughing. 

“It is ” answered the puppet, “it is — it is — that you 

are like — that you remind me — yes, yes, yes, the same voice — 
the same eyes — the same hair — yes, yes, yes — you also have blue 
hair — as she had — Oh, little Fairy! tell me that it is you, really 
you! Do not make me cry any more! If you knew — I have 
cried so much, I have suffered so much.” 

And, throwing himself at her feet on the floor, Pinocchio 
embraced the knees of the mysterious little woman and began 
to cry bitterly. 


CHAPTER XXV 


PINOCCHIO PROMISES THE FAIRY TO BE GOOD 
T first the good little woman maintained that she was not 



XXthe little Fairy with blue hair, but, seeing that she was 
found out and not wishing to continue the comedy any longer, 
she ended by making herself known, and she said to Pinocchio: 

“You little rogue! how did you ever discover who I was?” 

“It was my great affection for you that told me.” 

“Do you remember? You left me a child, and now that 
you have found me again I am a woman — a woman almost old 
enough to be your mamma.” 

“I am delighted at that, for now, instead of calling you 
little sister, I will call you mamma. I have wished for such a 
long time to have a mamma like other boys! But how did you 
manage to grow so fast?” 


116 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


117 


“That is a secret.” 

“Teach it to me, for I should also like to grow. Don’t 
you see? I always remain no bigger than a ninepin.” 

“Rut you cannot grow,” replied the Fairy. 

“Why?” 

“Because puppets never grow. They are born puppets, 
live puppets, and die puppets.” 

“Oh, I am sick of being a puppet!” cried Pinocchio, giving 
himself a slap. “It is time that I became a man.” 

“And you will become one, if you know how to deserve it.” 

“Not really? And what can I do to deserve it?” 

“A very easy thing: by learning to be a good boy.” 

“And you think I am not?” 

“You are quite the contrary. Good boys are obedient, 
and you ” 

“And I never obey.” 

“Good boys like to learn and to work, and you ” 

“And I instead lead an idle, vagabond life the year 
through.” 

“Good hoys always speak the truth.” 

“And I always tell lies.” 

“Good boys go willingly to school.” 

“And school gives me pain all over the body. But from 
today I will change my life.” 

“Do you promise me?” 

“I promise you. I will become a good little boy, and I 
will be the consolation of my papa. Where is my poor papa 
at this moment?” 


118 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“I do not know.” 

“Shall I ever have the happiness of seeing him again and 
kissing him?” 

“I think so; indeed, I am sure of it.” 

At this answer Pinocchio was so delighted that he took 
the Fairy’s hands and began to kiss them with such fervor 
that he seemed beside himself. Then, raising his face and look- 
ing at her lovingly, he asked: 

“Tell me, little mamma: then it was not true that you 
were dead?” 

“It seems not,” said the Fairy, smiling. 

“If you only knew the sorrow I felt and the tightening 
of my throat when I read, ‘Here lies ’ ” 

“I know it, and it is on that account that I have forgiven 
you. I saw from the sincerity of your grief that you had a 
good heart; and when boys have good hearts, even if they are 
scamps and have got bad habits, there is always something 
to hope for: that is, there is always hope that they will turn 
to better ways. That is why I came to look for you here. I 
will be your mamma.” 

“Oh, how delightful!” shouted Pinocchio, jumping for joy. 

“You must obey me and do everything that I bid you.” 

“Willingly, willingly, willingly!” 

“Tomorrow,” rejoined the Fairy, “you will begin to go 
to school.” 

Pinocchio became at once a little less joyful. 

“Then you must choose an art, or a trade, according to 
your own wishes.” 

Pinocchio became very grave. 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


119 


“What are you muttering between your teeth?” asked the 
Fairy in an angry voice. 

“I was saying,” moaned the puppet in a low voice, “that 
it seemed to me too late for me to go to school now.” 

“No, sir. Keep it in mind that it is never too late to 
learn and to instruct ourselves.” 

“But I do not wish to follow either an art or a trade.” 
“Why?” 

“Because it tires me to work.” 

“My boy,” said the Fairy, “those who talk in that way 
end almost always either in prison or in the hospital. Let me 
tell you that every man, whether he is born rich or poor, is 
obliged to do something in this world — to occupy himself, to 
work. Woe to those who lead slothful lives. Sloth is a dread- 
ful illness and must be cured at once, in childhood. If not, 
when we are old it can never be cured.” 

Pinocchio was touched by these words and, lifting his head 
quickly, he said to the Fairy: 

“L will study, I will work, I will do all that you tell me, 
for indeed I have become weary of being a puppet, and I wish 
at any price to become a boy. You promised me that I should, 
did you not?” 

“I did promise you, and it now depends upon yourself.” 



CHAPTER XXVI 

THE TERRIBLE DOG-FISH 

T HE following day Pinoechio went to the government school. 

Imagine the delight of all the little rogues, when they 
saw a puppet walk into their school! They set up a roar of 
laughter that never ended. They played him all sorts of tricks. 
One hoy carried off his cap, another pulled his jacket behind; 
one tried to give him a pair of inky mustachios just under his 
nose, and another attempted to tie strings to his feet and hands 
to make him dance. 

For a short time Pinoccliio pretended not to care and got 
on as well as he could ; hut at last, losing all patience, he turned 
to those who were teasing him most and making game of him, 
and said to them, looking very angry: 

Beware, boys! I have not come here to be your buffoon. 
I respect others, and I intend to be respected.” 

120 



“OH, I AM SICK OF BEING A PUPPET!" CRIED PINOCCHIO 




















































































































" '•Y 


* 




. 




















THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


123 


“Well said, boaster! You have spoken like a book!” 
howled the young rascals, convulsed with mad laughter, and 
one of them, more impertinent than the others, stretched out 
his hand, intending to seize the puppet by the end of his nose. 

But he was not in time, for Pinocchio stuck his leg out 
from under the table and gave him a great kick on his shins. 

“Oh, what hard feet!” roared the boy, rubbing the bruise 
that the puppet had given him. 

“And what elbows! even harder than his feet!” said another, 
who for his rude tricks had received a blow in the stomach. 

But, nevertheless, the kick and the blow acquired at once 
for Pinocchio the sympathy and the esteem of all the boys in 
the school. They all made friends with him and liked him 
heartily. 

And even the master praised him, for he found him atten- 
tive, studious and intelligent — always the first to come to school, 
and the last to leave when school was over. 

But he had one fault: he made too many friends, and 
amongst them were several young rascals well known for their 
dislike to study and love of mischief. 

The master warned him every day, and even the good 
Fairy never failed to tell him and to repeat constantly: 

“Take care, Pinocchio! Those bad school-fellows of yours 
will end sooner or later by making you lose all love of study, 
and perhaps they may even bring upon you some great mis- 
fortune.” 

“There is no fear of that!” answered the puppet, shrug- 
ging his shoulders and touching his forehead as much as to say: 
“There is so much sense here!” 

Now it happened that one fine day, as he was on his way 


124 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


to school, he met several of his usual companions who, coming 
up to him, asked: 

“Have you heard the great news?” 

“No.” 

“In the sea near here a Dog-Fish has appeared as big 
as a mountain.” 

“Not really? Can it be the same Dog-Fish that was there 
when my papa was drowned?” 

“We are going to the shore to see him. Will you come 
with us?” 

“No; I am going to school.” 

“What matters school? We can go to school tomorrow. 
Whether we have a lesson more or a lesson less, we shall always 
remain the same donkeys.” 

“But what will the master say?” 

“The master may say what he likes. He is paid on pur- 
pose to grumble all day.” 

“And my mamma?” 

“Mammas know nothing,” answered those bad little boys. 

“Do you know what I will do?” said Pinocchio. “I have 
reasons for wishing to see the Dog-Fish, but I will go and 
see him when school is over.” 

“Poor donkey!” exclaimed one of the number. “Do you 
suppose that a fish of that size will wait your convenience? 
As soon as he is tired of being here he will start for another 
place, and then it will be too late.” 

“How long does it take to go from here to the shore?” 
asked the puppet. 

“We can be there and back in an hour.” 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


125 


“Then away!” shouted Pinocchio, “and he who runs fast- 
est is the best!” 

Having thus given the signal to start, the boys, with their 
books and copy-books under their arms, rushed off across the 
fields, and Pinocchio was always the first — he seemed to have 
wings to his feet. 

From time to time he turned to jeer at his companions, 
who were some distance behind, and, seeing them panting for 
breath, covered with dust, and their tongues hanging out of 
their mouths, he laughed heartily. The unfortunate boy little 
knew what terrors and horrible disasters he was going to 
meet with! 



CHAPTER XXVII 

PINOCCHIO IS ARRESTED BY THE GENDARMES 

W HEX he arrived on the shore Pinocchio looked out to 
sea, but he saw no Dog-Fish. The sea was as smooth 
as a great crystal mirror. 

“Where is the Dog-Fish?” he asked, turning to his com- 
panions. 

“He must have gone to have his breakfast,” said one of 
them, laughing. 

“Or he has thrown himself on to his bed to have a little 
nap,” added another, laughing still louder. 

From their absurd answers and silly laughter Pinocchio 
perceived that his companions had been making a fool of him, 
in inducing him to believe a tale with no truth in it. Taking 
it very badly, he said to them angrily: 

126 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


127 


“And now, may I ask what fun you could find in deceiving 
me with the story of the Dog-Fish?” 

“Oh, it was great fun!” answered the little rascals in chorus. 

“And in what did it consist?” 

“In making you miss school and persuading you to come 
with us. Are you not ashamed of being always so punctual 
and so diligent with your lessons? Are you not ashamed of 
studying so hard?” 

“And if I study hard, what concern is it of yours?” 

“It concerns us excessively, because it makes us appear in 
a bad light to the master.” 

“Why?” 

“Because boys who study make those who, like us, have 
no wish to learn, seem worse by comparison. And that is too 
bad. We, too, have our pride!” 

“Then what must I do to please you?” 

“You must follow our example and hate school, lessons, 
and the master — our three greatest enemies.” 

“And if I wish to continue my studies?” 

“In that case we will have nothing more to do with you, 
and at the first opportunity we will make you pay for it.” 

“Really,” said the puppet, shaking his head, “you make 
me inclined to laugh.” 

“Eh, Pinocchio!” shouted the biggest of the boys, con- 
fronting him. “None of your superior airs: don’t come here 
to crow over us, for if you are not afraid of us, we are not 
afraid of you. Remember that you are one against seven of us.” 

“Seven, like the seven deadly sins,” said Pinocchio, with 
a shout of laughter. 


128 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“Listen to him! He has insulted us all! He called us 
the seven deadly sins!” 

“Take that to begin with and keep it for your supper 
tonight,” said one of the boys. 

And, so saying, he gave him a blow on the head with his fist. 

But it was give and take; for the puppet, as was to be 
expected, immediately returned the blow, and the fight in a 
moment became general and desperate. 

Pinocchio, although he was one alone, defended himself 
like a hero. He used his feet, which were of the hardest wood, 
to such purpose that he kept his enemies at a respectful dis- 
tance. Wherever they touched they left a bruise by way of 
reminder. 

The boys, becoming furious at not being able to measure 
themselves hand to hand with the puppet, had recourse to other 
weapons. Loosening their satchels, they commenced throwing 
their school-books at him — grammars, dictionaries, spelling- 
books, geography books, and other scholastic works. But 
Pinocchio was quick and had sharp eyes, and always managed 
to duck in time, so that the books passed over his head and 
all fell into the sea. 

Imagine the astonishment of the fish! Thinking that the 
books were something to eat they all arrived in shoals, but, 
having tasted a page or two, or a frontispiece, they spat it 
quickly out and made a wry face that seemed to say: “It 
isn’t food for us; we are accustomed to something much better!” 

The battle meantime had become fiercer than ever, when a 
big crab, who had come out of the water and had climbed 
slowly up on the shore, called out in a hoarse voice that sounded 
like a trumpet with a bad cold: 

“Have done with that, you young ruffians, for you are 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


129 


nothing else! These hand-to-hand fights between hoys seldom 
finish well. Some disaster is sure to happen!” 

Poor crab! He might as well have preached to the wind. 
Even that young rascal, Pinocchio, turning around, looked at 
him mockingly and said rudely: 

“Hold your tongue, you tiresome crab! You had better 
suck some liquorice lozenges to cure that cold in your throat.” 

Just then the boys, who had no more books of their own 
to throw, spied at a little distance the satchel that belonged to 
Pinocchio, and took possession of it. 

Amongst the books there was one bound in strong card- 
board with the back and points of parchment. It was a Treatise 
on Arithmetic. 

One of the boys seized this volume and, aiming at Pinoc- 
chio’s head, threw it at him with all the force he could muster. 
But instead of hitting the puppet it struck one of his com- 
panions on the temple, who, turning as white as a sheet, 
said only: 

“Oh, mother! help, I am dying!” and fell his whole length 
on the sand. Thinking he was dead, the terrified boys ran off 
as hard as their legs could carry them and in a few minutes 
they were out of sight. 

But Pinocchio remained. Although from grief and fright 
he was more dead than alive, nevertheless he ran and soaked 
his handkerchief in the sea and began to bathe the temples of 
his poor school-fellow. Crying bitterly in his despair, he kept 
calling him by name and saying to him: 

“Eugene! my poor Eugene! Open your eyes and look at 
me! Why do you not answer? I did not do it; indeed it was 
not I that hurt you so ! believe me, it was not ! Open your eyes, 
Eugene. If you keep your eyes shut I shall die, too. Oh! 


130 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


what shall I do? how shall I ever return home? How can I 
ever have the courage to go back to my good mamma? What 
will become of me? Where can I fly to? Oh! how much better 
it would have been, a thousand times better, if I had only 
gone to school! Why did I listen to my companions? they 
have been my ruin. The master said to me, and my mamma 
repeated it often: ‘Beware of bad companions!’ Oh, dear! 
what will become of me, what will become of me, what will 
become of me?” 

And Pinocchio began to cry and sob, and to strike his head 
with his fists, and to call poor Eugene by his name. Suddenly 
he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. 

He turned and saw two soldiers. 

“What are you doing there, lying on the ground?” they 
asked Pinocchio. 

“I am helping my school-fellow.” 

“Has he been hurt?” 

“So it seems.” 

“Hurt indeed!” said one of them, stooping down and 
examining Eugene closely. 

“This boy has been wounded in the temple. Who wounded 
him?” 

“Not I,” stammered the puppet breathlessly. 

“If it was not you, who then did it?” 

“Not I,” repeated Pinocchio. 

“And with what was he wounded?” 

“With this book.” And the puppet picked up from the 
ground the Treatise on Arithmetic, bound in cardboard and 
parchment, and showed it to the soldier. 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


131 


“And to whom does this belong?” 

“To me.” 

“That is enough, nothing more is wanted. Get up and 
come with us at once.” 

“But I ” 

“Come along with us!” 

“But I am innocent.” 

“Come along with us!” 

Before they left, the soldiers called some fishermen who 
were passing at that moment near the shore in their boat, and 
said to them: 

“We give this boy who has been wounded in the head in 
your charge. Carry him to your house and nurse him. To- 
morrow we will come and see him.” 

They then turned to Pinocchio and, having placed him 
between them, they said to him in a commanding voice: 

“Forward! and walk quickly, or it will he the worse 
for you.” 

Without requiring it to be repeated, the puppet set out 
along the road leading to the village. But the poor little devil 
hardly knew where he was. He thought he must be dreaming, 
and what a dreadful dream! He was beside himself. He saw 
double; his legs shook; his tongue clung to the roof of his 
mouth, and he could not utter a word. And yet, in the midst 
of his stupefaction and apathy, his heart was pierced by a cruel 
thorn — the thought that he would pass under the windows of 
the good Fairy’s house between the soldiers. He would rather 
have died. 

They had already reached the village when a gust of wind 
blew Pinocchio’s cap off his head and carried it ten yards off. 


132 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“Will you permit me,” said the puppet to the soldiers, 
“to go and get my cap?” 

“Go, then; but be quick about it.” 

The puj:>pet went and picked up his cap, but instead of 
putting it on his head he took it between his teeth and began 
to run as hard as he could towards the seashore. 

The soldiers, thinking it would be difficult to overtake him, 
sent after him a large mastiff who had won the first prizes at 
all the dog races. Pinocchio ran, but the dog ran faster. The 
people came to their windows and crowded into the street in 
their anxiety to see the end of the desperate race. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

PINOCCHIO ESCAPES BEING FRIED LIKE A FISH 

T HERE came a moment in this desperate race — a terrible 
moment — when Pinocchio thought himself lost: for Alidoro, 
the mastiff, had run so swiftly that he had nearly come up 
with him. 

The puppet could hear the panting of the dreadful beast 
close behind him; there was not a hand’s breadth between them, 
he could even feel the dog’s hot breath. 

Fortunately the shore was close and the sea but a few 
steps off. 

As soon as he reached the sands the puppet made a won- 
derful leap — a frog could have done no better — and plunged 
into the water. 

Alidoro, on the contrary, wished to stop himself, hut, car- 

133 


134 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


vied away by the impetus of the race, he also went into the 
sea. The unfortunate dog could not swim, but he made great 
efforts to keep himself afloat with his paws; but the more he 
struggled the farther he sank head downwards under the water. 

When he rose to the surface again his eyes were rolling 
with terror, and he barked out: 

“I am drowning! I am drowning!” 

“Drown!” shouted Pinocchio from a distance, seeing him- 
self safe from all danger. 

“Help me, dear Pinocchio! Save me from death!” 

At that agonizing cry the puppet, who had in reality an 
excellent heart, was moved with compassion, and, turning to 
the dog, he said: 

“But if I save your life, will you promise to give me no 
further annoyance, and not to run after me?” 

“I promise! I promise! Be quick, for pity’s sake, for if 
you delay another half -minute I shall be dead.” 

Pinocchio hesitated; but, remembering that his father had 
often told him that a good action is never lost, he swam to 
Alidoro, and, taking hold of his tail with both hands, brought 
him safe and sound on to the dry sand of the beach. 

The poor dog could not stand. He had drunk so much 
salt water that he was like a balloon. The puppet, however, 
not wishing to trust him too far, thought it more prudent to 
jump again into the water. When he had swum some distance 
from the shore he called out to the friend he had rescued: 

“Good-bye, Alidoro; a good journey to you, and take 
my compliments to all at home.” 

“Good-bye, Pinocchio,” answered the dog; “a thousand 
thanks for having saved my life. You have done me a great 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO i35 

service, and in this world what is given is returned. If an 
occasion offers I shall not forget it.” 

Pinocchio swam on, keeping always near the land. At last 
he thought that he had reached a safe place. Giving a look 
along the shore, he saw amongst the rocks a kind of cave from 
which a cloud of smoke was ascending. 

“In that cave,” he said to himself, “there must be a fire. 
So much the better. I will go and dry and warm myself, and 
then? and then we shall see.” 

Having taken the resolution he approached the rocks, 
but, as he was going to climb up, he felt something under the 
water that rose higher and higher and carried him into the air. 
He tried to escape, but it was too late, for, to his extreme sur- 
prise, he found himself enclosed in a great net, together with 
a swarm of fish of every size and shape, who were flapping 
and struggling like so many despairing souls. 

At the same moment a fisherman came out of the cave; 
he was so ugly, so horribly ugly, that he looked like a sea 
monster. Instead of hair his head was covered with a thick 
bush of green grass, his skin was green, his eyes were green, 
his long beard that came down to the ground was also green. 
He had the appearance of an immense lizard standing on its 
hind-paws. 

When the fisherman had drawn his net out of the sea, 
he exclaimed with great satisfaction: 

“Thank Heaven! Again today I shall have a splendid 
feast of fish!” 

“What a mercy that I am not a fish!” said Pinocchio to 
himself, regaining a little courage. 

The netful of fish was carried into the cave, which was 
dark and smoky. In the middle of the cave a large frying- 


136 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


pan full of oil was frying and sending out a smell of mush- 
rooms that was suffocating. 

'‘Now we will see what fish we have taken!” said the 
green fisherman, and, putting into the net an enormous hand, 
so out of all proportion that it looked like a baker’s shovel, 
he pulled out a handful of fish. 

“These fish are good!” he said, looking at them and smell- 
ing them complacently. And after he had smelled them he 
threw them into a pan without water. 

He repeated the same operation many times, and as he 
drew out the fish his mouth watered and he said, chuckling 
to himself: 

“What good whiting!” 

“What exquisite sardines!” 

“These soles are delicious!” 

“And these crabs excellent!” 

“What dear little anchovies!” 

The last to remain in the net was Pinocchio. 

No sooner had the fisherman taken him out than he opened 
his big green eyes with astonishment and cried, half frightened: 

“What species of fish is this? Fish of this kind I never 
remember to have eaten.” 

And he looked at him again attentively and, having ex- 
amined him well all over, he ended by saying: 

“I know: he must he a craw- fish.” 

Pinocchio, mortified at being mistaken for a craw-fish, said 
in an angry voice: 

“A craw-fish indeed! Do you take me for a craw-fish? 
what treatment! Let me tell you that I am a puppet.” 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


137 


“A puppet?” replied the fisherman. “To tell the truth, a 
puppet is quite a new fish for me. All the better! I shall 
eat you with greater pleasure.” 

“Eat me! but will you understand that I am not a fish? 
Do you hear that I talk and reason as you do?” 

“That is quite true,” said the fisherman; “and as I see 
that you are a fish possessed of the talent of talking and 
reasoning as I do, I will treat you with all the attention that 
is your due.” 

“And this attention?” 

“In token of my friendship and particular regard, I will 
leave you the choice of how you would like to be cooked. 
Would you like to be fried in the frying-pan, or would you 
prefer to be stewed with tomato sauce?” 

“To tell the truth,” answered Pinocchio, “if I am to choose, 
I should prefer to be set at liberty and to return home.” 

“You are joking! Do you imagine that I would lose the 
opportunity of tasting such a rare fish? It is not every day, 
I assure you, that a puppet fish is caught in these waters. 
Leave it to me. I will fry you in the frying-pan with the 
other fish, and you will be quite satisfied. It is always con- 
solation to be fried in company.” 

At this speech the unhappy Pinocchio began to cry and 
scream and to implore for mercy, and he said, sobbing: “How 
much better it would have been if I had gone to school! I 
would listen to my companions and now I am paying for it.” 

And he wriggled like an eel and made indescribable efforts 
to slip out of the clutches of the green fisherman. But it was 
useless: the fisherman took a long strip of rush and, having 
bound his hands and feet as if he had been a sausage, he 
threw him into the pan with the other fish. 


138 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


He then fetched a wooden bowl full of flour and began 
to flour them each in turn, and as soon as they were ready he 
threw them into the frying-pan. 

The first to dance in the boiling oil were the poor whitings; 
the crabs followed, then the sardines, then the soles, then the 
anchovies, and at last it was Pinocchio’s turn. Seeing himself 
so near death, and such a horrible death, he was so frightened, 
and trembled so violently, that he had neither voice nor breath 
left for further entreaties. 

But the poor boy implored with his eyes! The green fish- 
erman, however, without caring in the least, plunged him five 
or six times in the flour, until he was white from head to foot 
and looked like a puppet made of plaster. 



CHAPTER XXIX 

HE RETURNS TO THE EAIRy's HOUSE 

J UST as the fisherman was on the point of throwing Pinocchio 
into the frying-pan a large dog entered the cave, enticed 
there by the strong and savory odor of fried fish. 

“Get out!” shouted the fisherman, threateningly, holding 
the floured puppet in his hand. 

But the poor dog, who was as hungry as a wolf, whined 
and wagged his tail as much as to say: 

“Give me a mouthful of fish and I will leave you in peace.” 
“Get out, I tell you!” repeated the fisherman and he 
stretched out his leg to give him a kick. 

But the dog, who, when he was really hungry, would not 
stand trifling, turned upon him, growling and showing his ter- 
rible tusks. 


139 


140 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


At that moment a little feeble voice was heard in the cave, 
saying entreatingly : 

“Save me, Alidoro! If you do not save me I shall be 
fried!” 

The dog recognized Pinocchio’s voice and, to his extreme 
surprise, perceived that it proceeded from the floured bundle 
that the fisherman held in his hand. 

So what do you think he did? He made a spring, seized 
the bundle in his mouth, and, holding it gently between his 
teeth, he rushed out of the cave and was gone like a flash of 
lightning. 

The fisherman, furious at seeing a fish he was so anxious 
to eat snatched from him, ran after the dog, but he had not gone 
many steps when he was taken with a fit of coughing and had 
to give it up. 

Alidoro, when he had reached the path that led to the village, 
stopped and put his friend Pinocchio gently on the ground. 

“How much I have to thank you for!” said the puppet. 

“There is no necessity,” replied the dog. “You saved me 
and I have now returned it. You know that we must all help 
each other in this world.” 

“But how came you to come to the cave?” 

“I was lying on the shore more dead than alive when the 
wind brought to me the smell of fried fish. The smell excited 
my appetite and I followed it up. If I had arrived a second 
later ” 

“Do not mention it!” groaned Pinocchio, who was still trem- 
bling with fright. “Do not mention it! If you had arrived 
a second later I should by this time have been fried, eaten and 
digested. Brrr! It makes me shudder only to think of it!” 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


141 


Alidoro, laughing, extended his right paw to the puppet, 
who shook it heartily in token of great friendship, and they 
then separated. 

The dog took the road home, and Pinocchio, left alone, went 
to a cottage not far off and said to a little old man who was 
warming himself in the sun: 

“Tell me, good man, do you know anything of a poor boy 
called Eugene who was wounded in the head?” 

“The boy was brought by some fishermen to this cottage, 
and now ” 

“And now he is dead!” interrupted Pinocchio with great 
sorrow. 

“No, he is alive and has returned to his home.” 

“Not really? not really?” cried the puppet, dancing with 
delight. “Then the wound was not serious?” 

“It might have been very serious and even fatal,” answered 
the little old man, “for they threw a thick book bound in card- 
board at his head.” 

“And who threw it at him?” 

“One of his school-fellows, a certain Pinocchio.” 

“And who is this Pinocchio?” asked the puppet, pretending 
ignorance. 

“They say that he is a bad boy, a vagabond, a regular 
good-f or-nothing. ” 

“Calumnies! all calumnies!” 

“Do you know this Pinocchio?” 

“By sight!” answered the puppet. 

“And what is your opinion of him?” asked the little man. 


142 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“He seems to me to be a very good boy, anxious to learn, 
and obedient and affectionate to his father and family.” 

Whilst the puppet was firing off all these lies, he touched 
his nose and perceived that it had lengthened more than a hand. 
Very much alarmed he began to cry out: 

“Don’t believe, good man, what I have been telling you. 
I know Pinocchio very well and I can assure you that he is 
a very bad boy, disobedient and idle, who, instead of going to 
school, runs off with his companions to amuse himself.” 

He had hardly finished speaking when his nose became 
shorter and returned to the same size that it was before. 

“And why are you all covered with white?” asked the old 
man suddenly. 

“I will tell you. Without observing it I rubbed myself 
against a wall which had been freshly whitewashed,” answered 
the puppet, ashamed to confess that he had been floured like 
a fish prepared for the frying-pan. 

“And what have you done with your jacket, your trousers, 
and your cap?” 

“I met with robbers, who took them from me. Tell me, 
good old man, could you perhaps give me some clothes to return 
home in?” 

“My boy, as to clothes, I have nothing but a little sack in 
which I keep beans. If you wish for it, take it; there it is.” 

Pinocchio did not wait to be told twice. He took the sack 
at once and with a pair of scissors he cut a hole at the end 
and at each side, and put it on like a shirt. And with this slight 
clothing he set off for the village. 

But as he went he did not feel at all comfortable — so little 
so, indeed, that for a step forward he took another backwards, 
and he said, talking to himself: 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


143 


“How shall I ever present myself to my good little Fairy? 
What will she say when she sees me? Will she forgive me this 
second escapade? Oh, I am sure that she will not forgive me! 
And it serves me right, for I am a rascal. I am always prom- 
ising to correct myself and I never keep my word!” 

When he reached the village it was night and very dark. 
A storm had come on and as the rain was coming down in 
torrents he went straight to the Fairy’s house, resolved to knock 
at the door. 

But when he was there his courage failed him and instead 
of knocking he ran away some twenty paces. He returned to 
the door a second time and laid hold of the knocker, and, trem- 
bling, gave a little knock. 

He waited and waited. At last, after half an hour had 
passed, a window on the top floor was opened — the house was 
four stories high — and Pinocchio saw a big Snail with a lighted 
candle on her head looking out. She called to him: 

“Who is there at this hour?” 

“Is the Fairy at home?” asked the puppet. 

“The Fairy is asleep and must not be awakened; but who 
are you?” 

“It is I.” 

“Who is I?” 

“Pinocchio.” 

“And who is Pinocchio?” 

“The puppet who lives in the Fairy’s house.” 

“Ah, I understand!” said the Snail. “Wait for me there. 
I will come down and open the door directly.” 

“Be quick, for pity’s sake, for I am dying of cold.” 


144 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“My boy, I am a snail, and snails are never in a hurry.” 

An hour passed, and then two, and the door was not opened. 
Pinocchio, who was wet through and through, and trembling 
from cold and fear, at last took courage and knocked again, 
and this time he knocked louder. 

At this second knock a window on the lower story opened 
and the same Snail appeared at it. 

“Beautiful little Snail,” cried Pinocchio from the street, 
“I have been waiting for two hours! And two hours on such 
a bad night seem longer than two years. Be quick, for pity’s 
sake.” 

“My boy,” answered the calm little animal — “my boy, I 
am a snail, and snails are never in a hurry.” 

And the window was shut again. 

Shortly afterwards midnight struck; then one o’clock, then 
two o’clock, and the door remained still closed. 

Pinocchio at last, losing all patience, seized the knocker 
in a rage, intending to give a blow that would resound through 
the house. But the knocker, which was iron, turned suddenly 
into an eel and, slipping out of his hands, disappeared in 
the stream of water that ran down the middle of the street. 

“Ah! is that it?” shouted Pinocchio, blind with rage. 
“Since the knocker has disappeared, I will kick instead with 
all my might.” 

And, drawing a little back, he gave a tremendous kick 
against the house door. The blow was indeed so violent that 
his foot went through the wood and stuck; and when he tried 
to draw it back again it was trouble thrown away, for it 
remained fixed like a nail that has been hammered down. 

Think of poor Pinocchio! He was obliged to spend the 


THE ADVENTURES OF 1TNOCCHIO 


145 


remainder of the night with one foot on the ground and the 
other in the air. 

The following morning at daybreak the door was at last 
opened. The clever little Snail had taken only nine hours 
to come down from the fourth story to the house-door. It 
is evident that her exertions must have been great. 

“What are you doing with your foot stuck in the door?” 
she asked the puppet. 

“It was an accident. Do try, beautiful little Snail, if 
you cannot release me from this torture.” 

“My boy, that is the work of a carpenter, and I have 
never been a carpenter.” 

“Beg the Fairy from me!” 

“The Fairy is asleep and must not be awakened.” 

“But what do you suppose that I can do all day nailed 
to this door?” 

“Amuse yourself by counting the ants that pass down 
the street.” 

“Bring me at least something to eat, for I am quite 
exhausted.” 

“At once,” said the Snail. 

In fact, after three hours and a half she returned to 
Pinocchio carrying a silver tray on her head. The tray con- 
tained a loaf of bread, a roast chicken, and four ripe apricots. 

“Here is the breakfast that the Fairy has sent you,” said 
the Snail. 

The puppet felt very much comforted at the sight of 
these good things. But when he began to eat them, what 
was his disgust at making the discovery that the bread was 


146 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


plaster, the chicken cardboard, and the four apricots painted 
alabaster. 

He wanted to cry. In his desperation he tried to throw 
away the tray and all that was on it; but instead, either from 
grief or exhaustion, he fainted away. 

When he came to himself he found that he was lying on 
a sofa, and the Fairy was beside him. 

“I will pardon you once more,” the Fairy said, “but woe 
to you if you behave badly a third time!” 

Pinocchio promised and swore that he would study, and 
that for the future he would always conduct himself well. 

And he kept his word for the remainder of the year. 
Indeed, at the examinations before the holidays, he had the 
honor of being the first in the school, and his behavior in 
general was so satisfactory and praiseworthy that the Fairy 
was very much pleased, and said to him: 

“Tomorrow your wish shall be gratified.” 

“And that is?” 

“Tomorrow you shall cease to be a wooden puppet and 
you shall become a boy.” 

No one who had not witnessed it could ever imagine 
Pinocchio’s joy at this long-sighed-for good fortune. All his 
school-fellows were to be invited for the following day to a 
grand breakfast at the Fairy’s house, that they might cele- 
brate together the great event. The Fairy had prepared two 
hundred cups of coffee and milk, and four hundred rolls cut 
and buttered on each side. The day promised to be most 
happy and delightful, but 

Unfortunately in the lives of puppets there is always a 
“but” that spoils everything. 


CHAPTER XXX 


THE "LAND OF BOOBIES^ 

P INOCCHIO, as was natural, asked the Fairy’s permission 
to go round the town to give out the invitations, and the 
Fairy said to him: 

“Go, if you like, and invite your companions for the 
breakfast tomorrow, hut remember to return home before dark. 
Have you understood?” 

“I promise to be back in an hour,” answered the puppet. 
“Take care, Pinocchio! Boys are always very ready to 
promise, but generally they are little given to keep their word.” 

“But I am not like other boys. When I say a thing, 
I do it.” 

“We shall see. If you are disobedient, so much the worse 
for you.” 


147 


148 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCIIIO 


“Why?” 

“Because boys who do not listen to the advice of those 
who know more than they do always meet with some mis- 
fortune or other.” 

“I have experienced that,” said Pinocchio, “but I shall 
never make that mistake again.” 

“We shall see if that is true.” 

Without saying more the puppet took leave of his good 
Fairy, who was like a mamma to him, and went out of the 
house singing and dancing. 

In less than an hour all his friends were invited. Some 
accepted at once heartily; others at first required pressing; but 
when they heard that the rolls to be eaten with the coffee were 
to be buttered on both sides they ended by saying: 

“We will come also, to do you a pleasure.” 

Now I must tell you that amongst Pinocchio’s friends 
and school-fellows there was one that he greatly preferred and 
was very fond of. This boy’s name was Romeo, but he always 
went by the nickname of Candlewick, because he was so thin, 
straight and bright, like the new wick of a little nightlight. 

Candlewick was the laziest and the naughtiest boy in the 
school, but Pinocchio was devoted to him. He had indeed 
gone at once to his house to invite him to the breakfast, but 
he had not found him. He returned a second time, but Can- 
dlewick was not there. He went a third time, hut it was in 
vain. Where could he search for him? He looked here, there, 
and everywhere, and at last he saw him hiding on the porch 
of a peasant’s cottage. 

“What are you doing there?” asked Pinocchio, coming 
up to him. 


TH^ ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


149 


“I am waiting for midnight, to start away.” 

“And where are you going?” 

“I am going to live in a country — the most delightful 
country in the world: a real land of sweetmeats!” 

“And what is it called?” 

“It is called the ‘Land of Boobies.’ Why do you not 
come, too?” 

“I? No, never!” 

“You are wrong, Pinocchio. If you do not come you 
will repent it. Where could you find a better country for us 
hoys? There are no schools there; there are no masters; there 
are no books. In that delightful land nobody ever studies. 
On Saturday there is never school, and every week consists 
of six Saturdays and one Sunday. Only think, the autumn 
holidays begin on the first of January and finish on the last 
day of December. That is the country for me! That is what 
all civilized countries should be like!” 

“But how are the days spent in the ‘Land of Boobies’?” 

They are spent in play and amusement from morning till 
night. When night comes you go to bed, and recommence 
the same life in the morning. What do you think of it?” 

“Hum!” said Pinocchio, and he shook his head slightly, 
as much as to say, “That is a life that I also would will- 
ingly lead.” 

“Well, will you go with me? Yes or no? Resolve quickly.” 

“No, no, no, and again no. I promised my good Fairy 
to become a well conducted boy, and I will keep my word. 
And as I see that the sun is setting I must leave you at once 
and run away. Good-bye, and a pleasant journey to you.” 

“Where are you rushing off to in such a hurry?” 


150 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“Home. My good Fairy wishes me to be back before 
dark.” 

“Wait another two minutes.” 

“It will make me too late.” 

“Only two minutes.” 

“And if the Fairy scolds me?” 

“Let her scold. When she has scolded well she will hold 
her tongue,” said that rascal Candlewick. 

“And what are you going to do? Are you going alone 
or with companions?” 

“Alone? Indeed not, there will be more than a hundred 
boys.” 

“And do you make the journey on foot?” 

“A coach will pass by shortly which is to take me to that 
happy country.” 

“What would I not give for the coach to pass by now!” 
“Why?” 

“That I might see you all start together.” 

“Stay here a little longer and you will see us.” 

“No, no, I must go home.” 

“Wait another two minutes.” 

“I have already delayed too long. The Fairy will be 
anxious about me.” 

“Poor Fairy! Is she afraid that the bats will eat you?” 

“But now,” continued Pinocehio, “are you really certain 
that there are no schools in that country?” 

“Not even the shadow of one.” 

“And no masters either?” 

“Not one.” 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


151 


“And no one is ever made to study?” 

“Never, never, never!” 

“What a delightful country!” said Pinocchio, his mouth 
watering. “What a delightful country! I have never been 
there, but I can quite imagine it.” 

“Why will you not come also?” 

“It is useless to tempt me. I promised my good Fairy 
to become a sensible boy, and I will not break my word.” 

“Good-bye, then, and give my compliments to all the 
boys at school, if you meet them in the street.” 

“Good-hve, Caridlewick; a pleasant journey to you; amuse 
yourself, and think sometimes of your friends.” 

Thus saying, the puppet made two steps to go, hut then 
stopped, and, turning to his friend, he inquired: 

“But are you quite certain that in that country all the 
weeks consist of six Saturdays and one Sunday?” 

“Most certainly.” 

“But do you know for certain that the holidays begin on 
the first of January and finish on the last day of December?” 
“Assuredly.” 

“What a delightful country!” repeated Pinocchio, looking 
enchanted. Then, with a resolute air, he added in a great 
hurry : 

“This time really good-bye, and a pleasant journey to you.” 

“Good-bye.” 

“When do you start?” 

“Shortly.” 

“What a pity! If really it wanted only an hour to the 
time of your start, I should almost be tempted to wait.” 

“And the Fairy?” 


152 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“It is already late. If I return home an hour sooner or 
later it will be all the same.” 

“Poor Pinocchio! And if the Fairy scolds you?” 

“I must have patience! I will let her scold. When she 
has scolded well she will hold her tongue.” 

In the meantime night had come on and it was quite dark. 
Suddenly they saw in the distance a small light moving and 
they heard a noise of talking, and the sound of a trumpet, 
but so small and feeble that it resembled the hum of a mosquito. 

“Here it is!” shouted Candlewick, jumping to his feet. 

“What is it?” asked Pinocchio in a whisper. 

“It is the coach coming to take me. Now will you come, 
yes or no?” 

“But is it really true,” asked the puppet, “that in that 
country boys are never obliged to study?” 

“Never, never, never!” 

“What a delightful country! What a delightful country! 
What a delightful country!” 



CHAPTER XXXI 

PINOCCHIO ENJOYS FIYE MONTHS OF HAPPINESS 

ITT last the coach arrived, and it arrived without making 
jLJl the slightest noise, for its wheels were bound round with 
flax and rags. 

It was drawn by twelve pairs of donkeys, all the same 
size but of different colors. 

Some were gray, some white, some brindled like pepper 
and salt, and others had large stripes of yellow and blue. 

But the most extraordinary thing was this: the twelve 
pairs, that is, the twenty-four donkeys, instead of being shod 
like other beasts of burden, had on their feet men’s boots 
made of white kid. 

And the coachman? 

Picture to yourself a little man broader than he was long, 


153 


154 


THE ADVENTURES OF PXNOCCIIIO 


flabby and greasy like a lump of butter, with a small round 
face like an orange, a little mouth that was always laughing, 
and a soft, caressing voice like a cat when she is trying to 
insinuate herself into the good graces of the mistress of the 
house. 

All the boys vied with each other in taking places in his 
coach, to be conducted to the “Land of Boobies.” 

The coach was, in fact, quite full of boys between eight 
and fourteen years old, heaped one upon another like herrings 
in a barrel. They were uncomfortable, packed closely together 
and could hardly breathe; but nobody said “Oh!” — nobody 
grumbled. The consolation of knowing that in a few hours 
they would reach a country where there were no books, no 
schools, and no masters, made them so happy and resigned 
that they felt neither fatigue nor inconvenience, neither hunger, 
nor thirst, nor want of sleep. 

As soon as the coach had drawn up the little man turned 
to Candlewick and with a thousand smirks and grimaces said 
to him, smiling: 

“Tell me, niv fine boy, would you also like to go to that 
fortunate country?” 

“I certainly wish to go.” 

“But I must warn you, my dear child, that there is not 
a place left in the coach. You can see for yourself that it is 
quite full.” 

“No matter,” replied Candlewick, “if there is no place 
inside, I will manage to sit on the springs.” 

And, giving a leap, he seated himself astride on the 
springs. 

“And you, my love!” said the little man, turning in a 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


155 


flattering manner to Pinocchio, “what do you intend to do? 
Are you coming with us or are you going to remain behind?” 

“I remain behind,” answered Pinocchio. “I am going 
home. I intend to study, as all well conducted boys do.” 

“Much good may it do you!” 

“Pinocchio!” called out Candlewick, “listen to me: come 
with us and we shall have such fun.” 

“No, no, no!” 

“Come with us and we shall have such fun,” shouted in 
chorus a hundred voices from the inside of the coach. 

“But if I come with you, what will my good Fairy say?” 
said the puppet, who was beginning to yield. 

“Do not trouble your head with melancholy thoughts. 
Consider only that we are going to a country where we shall 
he at liberty to run riot from morning till night.” 

Pinocchio did not answer, hut he sighed; he sighed again; 
he sighed for the third time, and he said finally: 

“Make a little room for me, for I am coming, too.” 

“The places are all full,” replied the little man; “but, to 
show you how welcome you are, you shall have my seat on 
the box.” 

“And you?” 

“Oh, I will go on foot.” 

“No, indeed, I could not allow that. I would rather 
mount one of these donkeys,” cried Pinocchio. 

Approaching the right-hand donkey of the first pair, he 
attempted to mount him, but the animal turned on him and, 
giving him a great blow in the stomach, rolled him over with 
his legs in the air. 


156 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


You can imagine the impertinent and immoderate laugh- 
ter of all the boys who witnessed this scene. 

But the little man did not laugh. He approached the 
rebellious donkey and, pretending to give him a kiss, bit off 
half of his ear. 

Pinocchio in the meantime had gotten up from the ground 
in a fury and, with a spring, he seated himself on the poor 
animal’s back. And he sprang so well that the boys stopped 
laughing and began to shout: “Hurrah, Pinocchio!” and they 
clapped their hands and applauded him as if they would never 
finish. 

Now that Pinocchio was mounted, the coach started. 
Whilst the donkeys were galloping and the coach was rattling 
over the stones of the high road, the puppet thought that he 
heard a low voice that was scarcely audible saying to him: 

“Poor fool! you would follow your own way, but you will 
repent it!” 

Pinocchio, feeling almost frightened, looked from side to 
side to try and discover where these words could come from, 
but he saw nobody. The donkeys galloped, the coach rattled, 
the boys inside slept, Candlewick snored like a dormouse, and 
the little man seated on the box sang between his teeth: 

“During the night all sleep, 

But I sleep never.” 

After they had gone another mile, Pinocchio heard the 
same little low voice saying to him: 

“Bear it in mind, simpleton! Boys who refuse to study 
and turn their backs upon books, schools and masters, to pass 
their time in play and amusement, sooner or later come to a 


THE ADVENTURES OP PINOCCHIO 


157 


bad end. I know it by experience, and I can tell you. A 
day will come when you will weep as I am weeping now, but 
then it will be too late!” 

On hearing these words whispered very softly, the puppet, 
more frightened than ever, sprang down from the back of 
his donkey and went and took hold of his mouth. 

Imagine his surprise when he found that the donkey was 
crying — crying like a boy! 

“Eh! Sir Coachman,” cried Pinocchio to the little man, 
“here is an extraordinary thing! This donkey is crying.” 

“Let him cry; he will laugh when he is a bridegroom.” 

“But have you by chance taught him to talk?” 

“No; but he spent three years in a company of learned 
dogs, and he learned to mutter a few words.” 

“Poor beast!” 

“Come, come,” said the little man, “don’t let us waste 
time in seeing a donkey cry. Mount him and let us go on: 
the night is cold and the road is long.” 

Pinocchio obeyed without another word. In the morning 
about daybreak they arrived safely in the “Land of Boobies.” 

It was a country unlike any other country in the world. 
The population was composed entirely of boys. The oldest 
were fourteen, and the youngest scarcely eight years old. In 
the streets there was such merriment, noise and shouting that 
it was enough to turn anybody’s head. There were troops of 
boys everywhere. Some were playing with nuts, some witli 
battledores, some with balls. Some rode velocipedes, others 
wooden horses. A party were playing at hide and seek, a 
few were chasing each other. Some were reciting, some sing- 
ing, some leaping. Some were amusing themselves with walk- 


158 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


ing on their hands with their feet in the air ; others were 
trundling hoops or strutting about dressed as generals, wearing 
leaf helmets and commanding a squadron of cardboard sol- 
diers. Some were laughing, some shouting, some were calling 
out; others clapped their hands, or whistled, or clucked like 
a hen who has just laid an egg. 

In every square, canvas theaters had been erected and 
they were crowded with boys from morning till evening. On 
the walls of the houses there were inscriptions written in char- 
coal: “Long live playthings, we will have no more schools; 
down with arithmetic,” and similar other fine sentiments, all 
in bad spelling. 

Pinocchio, Candlewick and the other boys who had made 
the journey with the little man, had scarcely set foot in the 
town before they were in the thick of the tumult, and I need 
not tell you that in a few minutes they had made acquaintance 
with everybody. Where could happier or more contented boys 
be found? 

In the midst of continual games and every variety of 
amusement, the hours, the days and the weeks passed like 
lightning. 

“Oh, what a delightful life!” said Pinocchio, whenever 
by chance he met Candlewick. 

“See, then, if I was not right?” replied the other. “And 
to think that you did not want to come! To think that you 
had taken it into your head to return home to your Fairy, 
and to lose your time in studying! If you are this moment 
free from the bother of books and school, you must acknowl- 
edge that you owe it to me, to my advice, and to my per- 
suasions. It is only friends who know how to render such 
great services.” 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


159 


“It is true, Candlewick! If I am now a really happy 
boy, it is all your doing. But do you know what the master 
used to say when he talked to me of you? He always said 
to me: ‘Do not associate with that rascal Candlewick, for he 
is a bad companion, and will only lead you into mischief!’ ” 

“Poor master!” replied the other, shaking his head. “I 
know only too well that he disliked me, and amused himself 
by calumniating me; but I am generous and I forgive him!” 

“Noble soul!” said Pinocchio, embracing his friend affec- 
tionately and kissing him between the eyes. 

This delightful life had gone on for five months. The 
days had been entirely spent in play and amusement, without 
a thought of books or school, when one morning Pinocchio 
awoke to a most disagreeable surprise that put him into a 
very bad humor. 



CHAPTER XXXII 

PINOCCHIO TURNS INTO A DONKEY 

T HE surprise was that Pinocchio, when he awoke, scratched 
his head, and in scratching his head he discovered, to his 
great astonishment, that his ears had grown more than a hand. 

You know that the jrnppet from his birth had always 
had very small ears — so small that they were not visible to 
the naked eye. You can imagine then what he felt when he 
found that during the night his ears had become so long that 
they seemed like two brooms. 

He went at once in search of a glass that he might look 
at himself, but, not being able to find one, he filled the basin 
of his washing-stand with water, and he saw reflected what 
he certainly would never have wished to see. He saw his 
head embellished with a magnificent pair of donkey’s ears! 

160 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


161 


Only think of poor Pinocchio’s sorrow, shame and despair! 

He began to cry and roar, and lie heat his head against 
the wall, hut the more he cried the longer his ears grew; they 
grew, and grew, and became hairy towards the points. 

At the sound of his loud outcries a beautiful little Marmot 
that lived on the first floor came into the room. Seeing the 
puppet in such grief she asked earnestly: 

“What has happened to you, my dear fellow-lodger?” 

“I am ill, my dear little Marmot, very ill, and my illness 
frightens me. Do you understand counting a pulse?” 

“A little.” 

“Then feel and see if by chance I have got fever.” 

The little* Marmot raised her right fore-paw, and, after 
having felt Pinocchio’s pulse, she said to him, sighing: 

“My friend, I am grieved to he obliged to give you had 
news!” 

“What is it?” 

“You have got a very had fever!” 

“What fever is it?” 

“It is donkey fever.” 

“That is a fever that I do not understand,” said the pup- 
pet, but he understood it only too well. 

“Then I will explain it to you,” said the Marmot. “You 
must know that in two or three hours you will be no longer 
a puppet, or a boy.” 

“Then what shall I be?” 

“In two or three hours you will become really and truly 
a little donkey, like those that draw carts and carry cabbages 
and salad to market.” 


162 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“Oh, unfortunate that I am! unfortunate that I am!” cried 
Pinocchio, seizing his two ears with his hands and pulling them 
and tearing them furiously as if they had been some one 
else’s ears. 

“My dear boy,” said the Marmot, by way of consoling 
him, “you can do nothing. It is destiny. It is written in the 
decrees of wisdom that all boys who are lazy, and who take 
a dislike to books, to schools, and to masters, and who pass 
their time in amusement, games, and diversions, must end 
sooner or later by becoming transformed into so many little 
donkeys.” 

“But is it really so?” asked the puppet, sobbing. 

“It is indeed only too true! And tears are now useless. 
You should have thought of it sooner!” 

“But it was not my fault; believe me, little Marmot, the 
fault was all Candlewick’s !” 

“And who is this Candlewick?” 

“One of my school-fellows. I wanted to return home; I 
wanted to be obedient. I wished to study, but Candlewick 
said to me: ‘Why should you bother yourself by studying? 
Why should you go to school? Come with us instead to the 
“Land of Boobies”; there we shall none of us have to learn; 
there we shall amuse ourselves from morning to night, and 
we shall always be merry’.” 

“And why did you follow the advice of that false friend? 
of that bad companion?” 

“Why? Because, my dear little Marmot, I am a puppet 
with no sense, and with no heart. Ah! if I had had the least 
heart I should never have left that good Fairy who loved me 
like a mamma, and who had done so much for me! And I 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


163 


would be no longer a puppet, for I would by this time have 
become a little boy like so many others: But if I meet Candle- 
wick, woe to him! He shall hear what I think of him!” 

And he turned to go out. But when he reached the door 
he remembered his donkey’s ears, and, feeling ashamed to 
show them in public, what do you think he did? He took a 
big cotton cap and, putting it on his head, he pulled it well 
down over the point of his nose. 

He then set out and went everywhere in search of Can- 
dlewick. He looked for him in the streets, in the squares, in 
the little theaters, in every possible place, but he could not 
find him. He inquired for him of everybody he met, but no 
one had seen him. 

He then went to seek him at his house and, having reached 
the door, he knocked. 

“Who is there?” asked Candlewick from within. 

“It is I!” answered the puppet. 

“Wait a moment and I will let you in.” 

After half an hour the door was opened and imagine 
Pinocchio’s feelings when, upon going into the room, he saw 
his friend Candlewick with a big cotton cap on his head which 
came down over his nose. 

At the sight of the cap Pinocchio felt almost consoled and 
thought to himself: 

“Has my friend got the same illness that I have? Is he 
also suffering from donkey fever?” 

And, pretending to have observed nothing, he asked him, 
smiling : 

“How are you, my dear Candlewick?” 

“Very well; as well as a mouse in a Parmesan cheese.” 


164 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 

“Are you saying that seriously?’' 

“Why should I tell you a lie?” 

“Excuse me; hut why, then, do you keep that cotton cap 
on your head which covers up your ears?” 

“The doctor ordered me to wear it because I have hurt 
this knee. And you, dear puppet, why have you got on that 
cotton cap pulled down over your nose?” 

“The doctor prescribed it because I have grazed my foot.” 

“Oh, poor Pinocchio!” 

“Oh, poor Candlewick!” 

After these words a long silence followed, during which 
the two friends did nothing but look mockingly at each other. 

At last the puppet said in a soft voice to his companion: 

“Satisfy my curiosity, my dear Candlewick: have you 
ever suffered from disease of the ears?” 

“Never! And you?” 

“Never. Only since this morning one of my ears aches.” 

“Mine is also paining me.” 

“You also? And which of your ears hurts you?” 

“Both of them. And you?” 

“Both of them. Can we have got the same illness?” 

“I fear so.” 

“Will you do me a kindness, Candlewick?” 

“Willingly! With all my heart.” 

“Will you let me see your ears?” 

“Why not? But first, my dear Pinocchio, I should like 
to see yours.” 

“No: you must be first.” 

“No, dear. First you and then I!” 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


165 


“Well,” said the puppet, “let us come to an agreement 
like good friends.” 

“Let us hear it.” 

“We will both take off our caps at the same moment. Do 
you agree?” 

“I agree.” 

“Then, attention!” 

And Pinocchio began to count in a loud voice: 

“One, two, three!” 

At the word “Three!” the two boys took off their caps 
and threw them into the air. 

And then a scene followed that would seem incredible if 
it were not true. That is, that when Pinocchio and Candle- 
wick discovered that they were both struck with the same 
misfortune, instead of feeling full of mortification and grief, 
they began to prick their ungainly ears and to make a thou- 
sand antics, and they ended by going into bursts of laughter. 

And they laughed, and laughed, and laughed, until they 
had to hold themselves together. But in the midst of their 
merriment Candlewick suddenly stopped, staggered, and, 
changing color, said to his friend: 

“Help, help, Pinocchio!” 

“What is the matter with you?” 

“Alas, I cannot any longer stand upright.” 

“Neither can I,” exclaimed Pinocchio, tottering and be- 
ginning to cry. 

And whilst they were talking, they both doubled up and 
began to run round the room on their hands and feet. And 
as they ran, their hands became hoofs, their faces lengthened 


166 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


into muzzles, and their backs became covered with a light gray 
hairy coat sprinkled with black. 

But do you know what was the worst moment for these 
two wretched boys? The worst and the most humiliating mo- 
ment was when their tails grew. Vanquished by shame and 
sorrow, they wept and lamented their fate. 

Oh, if they had but been wiser! But instead of sighs and 
lamentations they could only bray like asses; and they brayed 
loudly and said in chorus: “Hee-haw F r 

Whilst this was going on some one knocked at the door 
and a voice on the outside said: 

“Open the door! I am the little man, I am the coachman 
who brought you to this country. Open at once, or it will 
be the worse for you!” 





CHAPTER XXXIII 

PINOCCHIO IS TRAINED FOR THE CIRCUS 

I 7HXDING that the door remained shut the little man burst 
it open with a violent kick and, coming into the room, he 
said to Pinocchio and Candlewick with his usual little laugh: 

“Well done, boys! You brayed well, and I recognized 
you by your voices. That is why I am here.” 

At these words the two little donkeys were quite stupefied 
and stood with their heads down, their ears lowered, and their 
tails between their legs. 

At first the little man stroked and caressed them; then, 
taking out a currycomb, he curry combed them well. And 
when by this process he had polished them till they shone like 
two mirrors, he put a halter round their necks and led them 
to the market-place, in hopes of selling them and making a 
good profit. 

And indeed buyers were not wanting. 'Candlewick was 
167 


168 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


bought by a peasant whose donkey had died the previous day. 
Pinocchio was sold to the director of a company of buffoons 
and tight-rope dancers, who bought him that he might teach 
him to leap and to dance with the other animals belonging to 
the company. 

And now, my little readers, you will have understood the 
fine trade that little man pursued. The wicked little monster, 
who had a face all milk and honey, made frequent journeys 
round the world with his coach. As he went along he col- 
lected, with promises and flattery, all the idle boys who had 
taken a dislike to books and school. As soon as his coach was 
full he conducted them to the “Land of Boobies,” that they 
might pass their time in games, in uproar, and in amusement. 
When these poor, deluded boys, from continual play and no 
study, had become so many little donkeys, he took possession 
of them with great delight and satisfaction, and carried them 
off to the fairs and markets to be sold. And in this way he 
had in a few years made heaps of money and had become a 
millionaire. 

What became of Candlewick I do no 4 * know, but I do 
know that Pinocchio from the very first day had to endure a 
very hard, laborious life. 

When he was put into his stall his master filled the 
manger with straw; but Pinocchio, having tried a mouthful, 
spat it out again. 

Then his master, grumbling, filled the manger with hay; 
but neither did the hay please him. 

“Ah!” exclaimed his master in a passion. “Does not hay 
please you either? Leave it to me, my fine donkey; if you 
are so full of caprices I will find a way to cure you!” 

And by way of correcting him he struck his legs with 
his whip. 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 169 

Pinocchio began to cry and to bray with pain, and he 
said, braying : 

“Hee-haw! I cannot digest straw!” 

“Then eat hay!” said his master, who understood perfectly 
the asinine dialect. 

“Hee-haw! hay gives me a pain in my stomach.” 

“Do you mean to pretend that a little donkey like you 
must be kept on breasts of chickens, and capons in jelly?” 
asked his master, getting more and more angry, and whipping 
him again. 

At this second whipping Pinocchio prudently held his 
tongue and said nothing more. 

The stable was then shut and Pinocchio was left alone. 
He had not eaten for many hours and he began to yawn from 
hunger. And when he yawned he opened a mouth that seemed 
as wide as an oven. 

At last, finding nothing else in the manger, he resigned 
himself and chewed a little hay; and after he had chewed it 
well, he shut his eyes and swallowed it. 

“This hay is not bad,” he said to himself ; “but how much 
better it would have been if I had gone on with my studies! 
Instead of hay I might now be eating a hunch of new bread 
and a fine slice of sausage. But I must have patience!” 

The next morning when he woke he looked in the manger 
for a little more hay; but he found none, for he had eaten 
it all during the night. 

Then he took a mouthful of chopped straw, but whilst 
he was chewing it he had to acknowledge that the taste of 
chopped straw did not in the least resemble a savory dish 
of macaroni or pie. 

“But I must have patience!” he repeated as he went on 


170 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


chewing. “May my example serve at least as a warning to 
all disobedient boys who do not want to study. Patience!” 

“Patience indeed!” shouted his master, coming at that 
moment into the stable. “Do you think, my little donkey, that 
I bought you only to give you food and drink? I bought you 
to make you work, and that you might earn money for me. 
Up, then, at once! you must come with me into the circus, and 
there I will teach you to jump through hoops, to go through 
frames of paper head foremost, to dance waltzes and pclkas, 
and to stand upright on your hind legs.” 

Poor Pinocchio, either by love or by force, had to learn 
all these fine things. But it took him three months before 
he had learned them, and he got many a whipping that nearly 
took off his skin. 

At last a day came when his master was able to announce 
that he would give a really extraordinary representation. The 
many colored placards stuck on the street corners were thus 
worded : 


Great Full Dress Representation 


TONIGHT 

Will Take Place the Usual Feats and Surprising 
Performances Executed by All the Artists 

AND BY ALL THE HORSES OF THE COMPANY 
AND MOREOVER 

The Famous 

LITTLE DONKEY PINOCCHIO 

CALLED 

THE STAR OF THE DANCE 
Will Make His First Appearance 


THE THEATER WILL BE BRILLIANTLY ILLUMINATED 




• ' 























, 























3S 



IN LESS THAN AN HOUR ALL HIS FRIENDS WERE INVITED 




THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


173 


On that evening, as you may imagine, an hour before 
the play was to begin the theater was crammed. 

There was not a place to be had either in the pit or the 
stalls, or in the boxes even, by paying its weight in gold. 

The benches round the circus were crowded with children 
and with boys of all ages, who were in a fever of impatience 
to see the famous little donkey Pinocchio dance. 

When the first part of the performance was over, the 
director of the company, dressed in a black coat, white breeches, 
and big leather boots that came above his knees, presented 
himself to the public, and, after making a profound bow, he 
began with much solemnity the following ridiculous speech : 

“Respectable public, ladies and gentlemen! The humble 
undersigned being a passer-by in this illustrious city, I have 
wished to procure for myself the honor, not to say the pleasure, 
of presenting to this intelligent and distinguished audience a 
celebrated little donkey, who has already had the honor of 
dancing in the presence of His Majesty the Emperor of all 
the principal courts of Europe. 

“And, thanking you, I beg of you to help us with your 
inspiring presence and to be indulgent to us.” 

This speech was received with much laughter and applause, 
hut the applause redoubled and became tumultuous when the 
little donkey Pinocchio made his appearance in the middle of 
the circus. He was decked out for the occasion. He had a 
new bridle of polished leather with brass buckles and studs, 
and two white camelias in his ears. His mane was divided and 
curled, and each curl was tied with hows of colored ribbon. 
He had a girth of gold and silver round his body, and his tail 
was plaited with amaranth and blue velvet ribbons. He was, 
in fact, a little donkey to fall in love with! 


174 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


The director, in presenting him to the public, added these 
few words: 

“My respectable auditors! I am not here to tell you 
falsehoods of the great difficulties that I have overcome in 
understanding and subjugating this mammifer, whilst he was 
grazing at liberty amongst tbe mountains in the plains of the 
torrid zone. I beg you will observe the wild rolling of his 
eyes. Every means having been tried in vain to tame him, 
and to accustom him to the life of domestic quadrupeds, I 
was often forced to have recourse to the convincing argument 
of the whip. But all my goodness to him, instead of gaining 
his affections, has, on the contrary, increased his viciousness. 
However, following the system of Gall, I discovered in his 
cranium a bony cartilage that the Faculty of Medicine of Paris 
has itself recognized as the regenerating bulb of the hair, and 
of dance. For this reason I have not only taught him to dance, 
but also to jump through hoops and through frames covered 
with paper. Admire him, and then pass your opinion on him! 
But before taking my leave of you, permit me, ladies and 
gentlemen, to invite you to the daily performance that will 
take place tomorrow evening; but in case the weather should 
threaten rain, the performance will be postponed till tomorrow 
morning at 11 ante-meridian of post-meridian.” 

Here the director made another profound bow, and, then 
turning to Pinocchio, he said: 

“Courage, Pinocchio! before you begin your feats make 
your bow to this distinguished audience — ladies, gentlemen, and 
children.” 

Pinocchio obeyed, and bent both his knees till they touched 
the ground, and remained kneeling until the director, crack- 
ing his whip, shouted to him: 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


175 


“At a foot’s pace!” 

Then the little donkey raised himself on his four legs and 
began to walk round the theater, keeping at a foot’s pace. 

After a little the director cried: 

“Trot!” and Pinocchio, obeying the order, changed to 
a trot. 

“Gallop!” and Pinocchio broke into a gallop. 

“Full gallop!” and Pinocchio went full gallop. But whilst 
he was going full speed like a race horse the director, raising 
his arm in the air, fired off a pistol. 

At the shot the little donkey, pretending to be wounded, 
fell his whole length in the circus, as if he were really dying. 

As he got up from the ground amidst an outburst of 
applause, shouts and clapping of hands, he naturally raised his 
head and looked up, and he saw in one of the boxes a beau- 
tiful lady who wore round her neck a thick gold chain from 
which hung a medallion. On the medallion was painted the 
portrait of a puppet. 

“That is my portrait! That lady is the Fairy!” said Pinoc- 
chio to himself, recognizing her immediately; and, overcome 
with delight, he tried to cry: 

“Oh, my little Fairy! Oh, my little Fairy!” 

But instead of these words a bray came from his throat, 
so sonorous and so prolonged that all the spectators laughed, 
and more especially all the children who were in the theater. 

Then the director, to give him a lesson, and to make him 
understand that it is not good manners to bray before the 
public, gave him a blow on his nose with the handle of his whip. 

The poor little donkey put his tongue out an inch and 


176 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


licked his nose for at least five minutes, thinking perhaps that 
it would ease the pain he felt. 

But what was his despair when, looking up a second time, 
he saw that the box was empty and that the Fairy had dis- 
appeared ! 

He thought he was going to die; his eyes filled with tears 
and he began to weep. Nobody, however, noticed it, and 
least of all the director who, cracking his whip, shouted: 

“Courage, Pinocchio! Now let the audience see how 
gracefully you can jump through the hoops.” 

Pinocchio tried two or three times, but each time that 
he came in front of the hoop, instead of going through it, he 
found it easier to go under it. At last he made a leap and 
went through it, hut his right leg unfortunately caught in the 
hoop, and that caused him to fall to the ground doubled up 
in a heap on the other side. 

When he got up he was lame and it was only with great 
difficulty that he managed to return to the stable. 

“Bring out Pinocchio! We want the little donkey! Bring 
out the little donkey!” shouted all the boys in the theater, 
touched and sorry for the sad accident. 

But the little donkey was seen no more that evening. 

The following morning the veterinary, that is, the doctor 
of animals, paid him a visit, and declared that he would 
remain lame for life. 

The director then said to the stable-boy: 

“What do you suppose I can do with a lame donkey? 
He would eat food without earning it. Take him to the 
market and sell him.” 

When they reached the market a purchaser was found 
at once. He asked the stable-boy: 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


177 


“How much do you want for that lame donkey?” 

“Twenty dollars.” 

“I will give you two dollars. Don’t suppose that I am 
buying him to make use of; I am buying him solely for his 
skin. I see that his skin is very hard and I intend to make 
a drum with it for the band of my village.” 

Imagine poor Pinocchio’s feelings when he heard that he 
was destined to become a drum! 

As soon as the purchaser had paid his two dollars he 
conducted the little donkey to the seashore. He then put a 
stone round his neck and, tying a rope, the end of which he 
held in his hand, round his leg, he gave him a sudden push 
and threw him into the water. 

Pinocchio, weighted down by the stone, went at once to 
the bottom, and his owner, keeping tight hold of the cord, 
sat down quietly on a piece of rock to wait until the little 
donkey was drowned, intending then to skin him. 



CHAPTER XXXIV 

PXNOCCHIO IS SWALLOWED BY THE DOG-FISH 

TTFTER Pinocchio had been fifty minutes under the water, 
A jL his purchaser said aloud to himself : 

“My poor little lame donkey must by this time be quite 
drowned. I will therefore pull him out of the water, and I 
will make a fine drum of his skin.” 

And he began to haul in the rope that he had tied to 
the donkey’s leg, and he hauled, and hauled, and hauled, until 
at last — what do you think appeared above the water? Instead 
of a little dead donkey he saw a live puppet, who was wriggling 
like an eel. 

Seeing this wooden puppet, the poor man thought he was 
dreaming, and, struck dumb with astonishment, he remained 
with his mouth open and his eyes starting out of his head. 

178 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


179 


Having somewhat recovered from his first stupefaction, 
he asked in a quavering voice: 

“And the little donkey that I threw into the sea? What 
has become of him?” 

“I am the little donkey!” said Pinocchio, laughing. 

“You?” 

99 

“Ah, you young scamp!! Do you dare to make game 
of me?” 

“To make game of you? Quite the contrary, my dear 
master; I am speaking seriously.” 

“But how can you, who but a short time ago were a little 
donkey, have become a wooden puppet, only from having been 
left in the water?” 

“It must have been the effect of sea water. The sea makes 
extraordinary changes.” 

“Beware, puppet, beware! Don’t imagine that you can 
amuse yourself at my expense. Woe to you if I lose patience!” 

“Well, master, do you wish to know the true story? 
If you will set my leg free I will tell it you.” 

The good man, who was curious to hear the true story, 
immediately untied the knot that kept him hound; and Pinoc- 
chio, finding himself free as a bird in the air, commenced as 
follows: 

“You must know that I was once a puppet as I am now, 
and I was on the point of becoming a boy like the many who 
are in the world. But instead, induced by my dislike for study 
and the advice of bad companions, I ran away from home. 
One fine day when I awoke I found myself changed into a 


180 


TIIE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


donkey with long ears, and a long tail. What a disgrace it 
was to me! — a disgrace, dear master, that even your worst 
enemy would not inflict upon you! Taken to the market to 
he sold I was bought by the director of an equestrian company, 
who took it into his head to make a famous dancer of me, and 
a famous leaper through hoops. Rut one night during a per- 
formance I had a bad fall in the circus arid lamed both my 
legs. Then the director, not knowing what to do with a lame 
donkey, sent me to be sold, and you were the purchaser!” 

“Only too true. And I paid two dollars for you. And 
now, who will give me back my good money?” 

“And why did you buy me? You bought me to make a 
drum of my skin!” 

“Only too true! And now, where shall I find another 
skin?” 

“Don’t despair, master. There are such a number of little 
donkeys in the world!” 

“Tell me, you impertinent rascal, does your story end 
here?” 

“No,” answered the puppet; “I have another two words 
to say and then I shall have finished. After you had bought 
me you brought me to this place to kill me; but then, yielding 
to a feeling of compassion, you preferred to tie a stone round 
my neck and to throw me into the sea. This humane feeling 
does you great honor and I shall always be grateful to you 
for it. But, nevertheless, dear master, this time you made 
your calculations without considering the Fairy!” 

“And who is the Fairy?” 

“She is my mamma and she resembles all other good 
mammas who care for their children, and who never lose sight 
of them, hut help them lovingly, even when, on account of 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCIIIO 


181 


their foolishness and evil conduct, they deserve to be aban- 
doned and left to themselves. Well, then, the good Fairy, as 
soon as she saw that I was in danger of drowning, sent imme- 
diately an immense shoal of fish, who, believing me really to 
be a little dead donkey, began to eat me. And what mouth- 
fuls they took; I should never have thought that fish were 
greedier than boys! Some ate my ears, some my muzzle, others 
my neck and mane, some the skin of my legs, some my coat. 
Amongst them there was a little fish so polite that be even 
condescended to eat my tail.” 

“From this time forth,” said his purchaser, horrified, “I 
swear that I will never touch fish. It would be too dreadful 
to open a mullet, or a fried whiting, and to find inside a 
donkey’s tail!” 

“I agree with you,” said the puppet, laughing. “How- 
ever, I must tell you that when the fish had finished eating the 
donkey’s hide that covered me from head to foot, they naturally 
reached the bone, or rather the wood, for, as you see, I am 
made of the hardest wood. But after giving a few bites they 
soon discovered that I was not a morsel for their teeth, and, 
disgusted with such indigestible food, they went off, some in 
one direction and some in another, without so much as saying 
‘Thank you’ to me. And now, at last, I have told you how 
it was that when you pulled up the rope you found a live 
puppet instead of a dead donkey.” 

“I laugh at your story,” cried the man in a rage. “I 
know only that I spent two dollars to buy you, and I will 
have my money back. Shall I tell you what I will do? I 
will take you back to the market and I will sell you by weight 
as seasoned wood for lighting fires.” 

“Sell me if you like; I am content,” said Pinocchio. 


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THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


But as he said it lie made a spring and plunged into the 
water. Swimming gaily away from the shore, he called to his 
poor owner: 

“Good-bye, master; if you should he in want of a skin to 
make a drum, remember me.” 

And he laughed and went on swimming, and after a while 
he turned again and shouted louder: 

“Good-bye, master; if you should be in want of a little 
well seasoned wood for lighting the fire, remember me.” 

In the twinkling of an eye lie had swum so far off that he 
was scarcely visible. All that could be seen of him was a little 
black speck on the surface of the sea that from time to time 
lifted its legs out of the water and leaped and capered like 
a dolphin enjoying himself. 

Whilst Pinocchio was swimming, he knew not whither, he 
saw in the midst of the sea a rock that seemed to be made 
of white marble, and on the summit there stood a beautiful 
little goat who bleated lovingly and made signs to him to 
approach. 

But the most singular thing was this. The little goat’s 
hair, instead of being white or black, or a mixture of two colors 
as is usual with other goats, was blue, and a very vivid blue, 
greatly resembling the hair of the beautiful Child. 

I leave you to imagine how rapidly poor Pinocchio’s heart 
began to beat. He swam with redoubled strength and energy 
towards the white rock; and he was already half-way there 
when he saw, rising up out of the water and coming to meet 
him, the horrible head of a sea-monster. His wide-open, cav- 
ernous mouth and his three rows of enormous teeth would have 
been terrifying to look at even in a picture. 

And do you know what this sea-monster was? 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


183 


This sea-monster was neither more nor less than that 
gigantic Dog-Fish, who has been mentioned many times in this 
story, and who, for his slaughter and for his insatiable voracity, 
had been named the “Attila of Fish and Fishermen.” 

Only to think of poor Pinocchio’s terror at the sight of 
the monster. He tried to avoid it, to change his direction; he 
tried to escape, but that immense, wide-open mouth came 
towards him with the velocity of an arrow. 

“Be quick, Pinocchio, for pity’s sake!” cried the beautiful 
little goat, bleating. 

And Pinocchio swam desperately with his arms, his chest, 
his legs, and his feet. 

“Quick, Pinocchio, the monster is close upon you!” 

And Pinocchio swam quicker than ever, and flew on with 
the rapidity of a ball from a gun. He had nearly reached the 
rock, and the little goat, leaning over towards the sea, had 
stretched out her fore-legs to help him out of the water! 

But it was too late! The monster had overtaken him and, 
drawing in his breath, he sucked in the poor puppet as he 
would have sucked a hen’s egg; and he swallowed him with 
such violence and avidity that Pinocchio, in falling into the 
Dog-Fish’s stomach, received such a blow that he remained 
unconscious for a quarter of an hour afterwards. 

When he came to himself again after the shock he could 
not in the least imagine in what world he was. All around 
him it was quite dark, and the darkness was so black and so 
profound that it seemed to him that he had fallen head down- 
wards into an inkstand full of ink. He listened, hut he 
could hear no noise; only from time to time great gusts of 
wind blew in his face. At first he could not understand where 
the wind came from, hut at last he discovered that it came 


184 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


out of the monster’s lungs. For you must know that the 
Dog-Fish suffered very much from asthma, and when he 
breathed it was exactly as if a north wind was blowing. 

Pinocchio at first tried to keep up his courage, but when 
he had one proof after another that he was really shut up in 
the body of this sea-monster he began to cry and scream, and 
to sob out: 

“Help! help! Oh, how unfortunate I am! Will nobody 
come to save me?” 

“Who do you think coiild save you, unhappy wretch?” 
said a voice in the dark that sounded like a guitar out of tune. 

“Who is speaking?” asked Pinocchio, frozen with terror. 

“It is I! I am a poor Tunny who was swallowed hv the 
Dog-Fish at the same time that you were. And what fish 
are you?” 

“I have nothing in common with fish. I am a puppet.” 

“Then, if you are not a fish, why did you let yourself 
be swallowed by the monster?” 

“I didn’t let myself he swallowed; it was the monster 
swallowed me! And now, what are we to do here in the dark?” 

“Resign ourselves and wait until the Dog-Fish has digested 
us both.” 

“But I do not want to be digested!” howled Pinocchio, 
beginning to cry again. 

“Neither do I want to be digested,” added the Tunny; 
“but I am enough of a philosopher to console myself by 
thinking that when one is horn a Tunny it is more dignified 
to die in the water than in oil.” 

“That is all nonsense!” cried Pinocchio. 

“It is my opinion,” replied the Tunny, “and opinions, so 
say the political Tunnies, ought to be respected,” 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


185 


“To sum it all up, I want to get away from here. I 
want to escape.” 

“Escape, if you are able!” 

“Is this Dog-Fish who has swallowed us very big?” asked 
the puppet. 

“Big! Why, only imagine, his body is two miles long 
without counting his tail.” 

Whilst they were holding this conversation in the dark, 
Pinocchio thought that he saw a light a long way off. 

“What is that little light I see in the distance?” he asked. 

“It is most likely some companion in misfortune who is 
waiting, like us, to be digested.” 

“I will go and find him. Do you not think that it may 
by chance be some old fish who perhaps could show us how 
to escape?” 

“I hope it may be so, with all my heart, dear puppet.” 

“Good-bye, Tunny.” 

“Good-bye, puppet, and good fortune attend you.” 

“Where shall we meet again?” 

“Who can say? It is better not even to think of it!” 



CHAPTER XXXV 

A HAPPY SURPRISE FOR PINOCCHIO 

P INOCCHIO, having taken leave of his friend the Tunny, 
began to grope his way in the dark through the body of 
the Dog-Fish, taking a step at a time in the direction of the 
light that he saw shining dimly at a great distance. 

The farther he advanced the brighter became the light; 
and he walked and walked until at last he reached it; and 
when he reached it — what did he find? I will give you a 
thousand guesses. He found a little table spread out and on 
it a lighted candle stuck into a green glass bottle, and, seated 
at the table, was a little old man. He was eating some live 
fish, and they were so very much alive that whilst he was 
eating them they sometimes even jumped out of his mouth. 

At this sight Pinocchio was filled with such great and 


186 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


187 


unexpected joy that he became almost delirious. He wanted 
to laugh, he wanted to cry, he wanted to say a thousand things, 
and instead he could only stammer out a few confused and 
broken words. At last he succeeded in uttering a cry of joy, 
and, opening his arms, he threw them around the little old 
man’s neck, and began to shout: 

“Oh, my dear papa! I have found you at last! I will 
never leave you more, never more, never more!” 

“Then my eyes tell me true?” said the little old man, 
rubbing his eyes; “then you are really my dear Pinocchio?” 

“Yes, yes, I am Pinocchio, really Pinocchio! And you 
have quite forgiven me, have you not? Oh, my dear papa, 

how good you are! And to think that I, on the contrary 

Oh! but if you only knew what misfortunes have been poured 
on my head, and all that has befallen me! Only imagine, the 
day that you, poor, dear papa, sold your coat to buy me a 
spelling-book, that I might go to school, I escaped to see the 
puppet show, and the showman wanted to put me on the fire, 
that I might roast his mutton, and he was the same that after- 
wards gave me five gold pieces to take them to you, but I 
met the Fox and the Cat, who took me to the inn of The 
Red Craw-Fish, where they ate like wolves, and I left by 
myself in the middle of the night, and I encountered assas- 
sins who ran after me, and I ran away, and they followed, 
and I ran, and they always followed me, and I ran, until they 
hung me to a branch of a Big Oak, and the beautiful Child 
with blue hair sent a little carriage to fetch me, and the doctors 
when they saw me said immediately, Tf he is not dead, it is 
a proof that he is still alive’ — and then by chance I told a lie, 
and my nose began to grow until I could no longer get through 
the door of the room, for which reason I went with the Fox 


188 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


and the Cat to bury the four gold pieces, for one I had spent 
at the inn, and the Parrot began to laugh, and instead of two 
thousand gold pieces I found none left, for which reason the 
judge when he heard that I had been robbed had me imme- 
diately put in prison to content the robbers, and then when I 
was coming away I saw a beautiful bunch of grapes in a field, 
and I was caught in a trap, and the peasant, who was quite 
right, put a dog-collar round my neck that I might guard the 
poultry-yard, and acknowledging my innocence let me go, and 
the Serpent with the smoking tail began to laugh and broke a 
blood-vessel in his chest, and so I returned to the house of 
the beautiful Child, who was dead, and the Pigeon, seeing that 
I was crying, said to me, T have seen your father who was 
building a little boat to go in search of you,’ and I said to 
him, ‘Oh! if I also had wings,’ and he said to me, ‘Do you 
want to go to your father?’ and I said, ‘Without doubt! but 
who will take me to him?’ and he said to me, ‘I will take you,’ 
and I said to him, ‘How?’ and he said to me, ‘Get on my 
hack,’ and so we flew all night, and then in the morning all 
the fishermen who were looking out to sea said to me, ‘There 
is a poor man in a boat who is on the point of being drowned,’ 
and I recognized you at once, even at that distance, for my 
heart told me, and I made signs to you to return to land.” 

“I also recognized you,” said Geppetto, “and I would 
willingly have returned to the shore, but what was I to do! 
The sea was tremendous and a great wave upset my boat. 
Then a horrible Dog-Fish, who was near, as soon as he saw 
me in the water, came towards me, and, putting out his tongue, 
took hold of me and swallowed me as if I had been a little 
apple tart.” 

“And how long have you been shut up here?” asked 
Pinocchio. 



THEY THOUGHT IT WOULD BE MORE COMFORTABLE 
TO GET ON THE TUNNY’S BACK 



THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHK) 


191 


“Since that day — it must be nearly two years ago; two 
years, my dear Pinocchio, that have seemed like two centuries!” 

“And how have you managed to live? And where did 
you get the candle? And the matches to light it? Who gave 
them to you?” 

“Stop, and I will tell you everything. You must know, 
then, that in the same storm in which my boat was upset a 
merchant vessel foundered. The sailors were all saved, but 
the vessel went to the bottom, and the Dog-Fish, who had that 
day an excellent appetite, after he had swallowed me, swal- 
lowed also the vessel.” 

“How?” 

“He swallowed it in one mouthful, and the only thing 
that he spat out was the mainmast, that had stuck between 
his teeth like a fish-bone. Fortunately for me, the vessel was 
laden with preserved meat in tins, biscuit, bottles of wine, 
dried raisins, cheese, coffee, sugar, candles, and boxes of wax 
matches. With this providential supply I have been able to 
live for two years. But I have arrived at the end of my 
resources; there is nothing left in the larder, and this candle 
that you see burning is the last that remains.” 

“And after that?” 

“After that, dear boy, we shall both remain in the dark.” 

“Then, dear little papa,” said Pinocchio, “there is no time 
to lose. We must think of escaping.” 

“Of escaping? How?” 

“We must escape through the mouth of the Dog-Fish, 
throw ourselves into the sea and swim away.” 

‘You talk well; but, dear Pinocchio, I don’t know how 
to swim.” 


192 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“What does that matter? I am a good swimmer, and 
you can get on my shoulders and I will carry you safely 
to shore.” 

“All illusions, my boy!” replied Geppetto, shaking his 
head, with a melancholy smile. “Do you suppose it possible 
that a puppet like you, scarcely a yard high, could have the 
strength to swim with me on his shoulders!” 

“Try it and you will see!” 

Without another word Pinocchio took the candle in his 
hand, and, going in front to light the way, he said to his father: 

“Follow me, and don’t be afraid.” 

And they walked for some time and traversed the body 
and the stomach of the Dog-Fish. But when they had arrived 
at the point where the monster’s big throat began, they thought 
it better to stop to give a good look around and to choose the 
best moment for escaping. 

Now, I must tell you that the Dog-Fish, being very old, 
and suffering from asthma and palpitation of the heart, was 
obliged to sleep with his mouth open. Pinocchio, therefore, 
having approached the entrance to his throat, and, looking up, 
could see beyond the enormous gaping mouth a large piece of 
starry sky and beautiful moonlight. 

“This is the moment to escape,” he whispered, turning to 
his father; “the Dog-Fish is sleeping like a dormouse, the sea 
is calm, and it is as light as day. Follow me, dear papa, and 
in a short time we shall be in safety.” 

They immediately climbed up the throat of the sea-mon- 
ster, and, having reached his immense mouth, they bemm to 
walk on tiptoe down his tongue. 

Before taking the final leap the puppet said to his father: 


TIIE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


193 


“Get on my shoulders and put your arms tightly around 
my neck. I will take care of the rest.” 

As soon as Geppetto was firmly settled on his son’s shoul- 
ders, Pinocchio, feeling sure of himself, threw himself into the 
water and began to swim. The sea was as smooth as oil, the 
moon shone brilliantly, and the Dog-Fish was sleeping so 
profoundly that even a cannonade would have failed to wake 
him. 



CHAPTER XXXVI 


PINOCCHIO AT LAST CEASES TO BE A PUPPET 
AND BECOMES A BOY 

W HILST Pinocchio was swimming quickly towards the 
shore he discovered that his father, who was on his 
shoulders with his legs in the water, was trembling as violently 
as if the pc or man had an attack of ague fever. 

Was he trembling from cold or from fear. Perhaps a 
little from both the one and the other. But Pinocchio, think- 
ing it was from fear, said, to comfort him: 

“Courage, papa! In a few minutes we shall be safely 
on shore.” 

“But where is this blessed shore?” asked the little old man, 
becoming still more frightened, and screwing up his eyes as 
tailors do when they wish to thread a needle. “I have been 


194 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


195 


looking in every direction and I see nothing but the sky and 
the sea.” 

“But I see the shore as well,” said the puppet. “You must 
know that I am like a cat: I see better by night than by day.” 

Poor Pinocchio was making a pretense of being in good 
spirits, but in reality he was beginning to feel discouraged; 
his strength was failing, he was gasping and panting for breath. 
He could do no more, and the shore was still far off. 

He swam until he had no breath left; then he turned his 
head to Geppetto and said in broken words: 

“Papa, help me, I am dying!” 

The father and son were on the point of drowning when 
they heard a voice like a guitar out of tune saying: 

“Who is it that is dying?” 

“It is I, and my poor father!” 

“I know that voice! You are Pinocchio!” 

“Precisely; and you?” 

“I am the Tunny, your prison companion in the body of 
the Dog-Fish.” 

“And how did you manage to escape?” 

“I followed your example. You showed me the road, and 
I escaped after you.” 

“Tunny, you have arrived at the right moment! I implore 
you to help us or we are lost.” 

“Willingly and with all my heart. You must, both of you, 
take hold of my tail and leave it to me to guide you. I will take 
you on shore in four minutes.” 

Geppetto and Pinocchio, as I need not tell you, accepted 


196 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


the offer at once; but, instead of holding on by his tail, they 
thought it would be more comfortable to get on the Tunny’s 
back. 

Having reached the shore, Pinocchio sprang first on land 
that he might help his father to do the same. He then turned 
to the Tunny and said to him in a voice full of emotion: 

“My friend, you have saved my papa’s life. I can find 
no words with which to thank you properly. Permit me at least 
to give you a kiss as a sign of my eternal gratitude!” 

The Tunny put his head out of the water and Pinocchio, 
kneeling on the ground, kissed him tenderly on the mouth. At 
this spontaneous proof of warm affection, the poor Tunny, 
who was not accustomed to it, felt extremely touched, and, 
ashamed to let himself be seen crying like a child, he plunged 
under the water and disappeared. 

By this time the day had dawned. Pinocchio, then offer- 
ing his arm to Geppetto, who had scarcely breath to stand, 
said to him: 

“Lean on my arm, dear papa, and let us go. We will 
walk very slowly, like the ants, and when we are tired we can 
rest by the wayside.” 

“And where shall we go?” asked Geppetto. 

“In search of some house or cottage, where they will give 
us for charity a mouthful of bread, and a little straw to serve 
as a bed.” 

They had not gone a hundred yards when they saw by 
the roadside two villainous-looking individuals begging. 

They were the Cat and the Fox, but they were scarcely 
recognizable. Fancy! the Cat had so long feigned blindness 
that she had become blind in reality; and the Fox, old, mangy, 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


197 


and with one side paralyzed, had not even his tail left. That 
sneaking thief, having fallen into the most squalid misery, one 
fine day had found himself obliged to sell his beautiful tail to 
a traveling peddler, who bought it to drive away flies. 

“Oh, Pinocchio!” cried the Fox, “give a little in charity 
to two poor, infirm people. ,, 

“Infirm people,” repeated the Cat. 

“Begone, imposters!” answered the puppet. “You took 
me in once, but you will never catch me again.” 

“Believe me, Pinocchio, we are now poor and unfortunate 
indeed !” 

“If you are poor, you deserve it. Recollect the proverb: 
‘Stolen money never fructifies/ Begone, impostors!” 

And, thus saying, Pinocchio and Geppetto went their way 
in peace. When they had gone another hundred yards they 
saw, at the end of a path in the middle of the fields, a nice 
little straw hut with a roof of tiles and bricks. 

“That hut must be inhabited by some one,” said Pinocchio. 
“Let us go and knock at the door.” 

They went and knocked. 

“We are a poor father and son without bread and with- 
out a roof,” answered the puppet. 

“Turn the key and the door will open,” said the same 
little voice. 

Pinocchio turned the key and the door opened. They 
went in and looked here, there, and everywhere, but could see 
no one. 

“Oh! where is the master of the house?” said Pinocchio, 
much surprised. 


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THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“Here I am, up here!” 

‘The father and son looked immediately up to the ceiling, 
and there on a beam they saw the Talking- Cricket. 

“Oh, my dear little Cricket!” said Pinocchio, bowing po- 
litely to him. 

“Ah! now you call me ‘Your dear little Cricket.’ But 
do you remember the time when you threw the handle of a 
hammer at me, to drive me from your house?” 

“You are right, Cricket! Drive me away also! Throw 
the handle of a hammer at me, hut have pity on my poor papa.” 

“I will have pity on both father and son, hut I wished 
to remind you of the ill treatment I received from you, to 
teach you that in this world, when it is possible, we should 
show courtesy to everybody, if we wish it to be extended to 
us in our hour of need.” 

“You are right, Cricket, you are right, and I will bear 
in mind the lesson you have given me. But tell me how you 
managed to buy this beautiful hut.” 

“This hut was given to me yesterday by a goat whose 
wool was of a beautiful blue color.” 

“And where has the goat gone?” asked Pinocchio, with 
lively curiosity. 

“I do not know.” 

“And when will it come back?” 

“It will never come hack. It went away yesterday in 
great grief and, bleating, it seemed to say: ‘Poor Pinocchio! 
I shall never see him more, for by this time the Dog-Fish 
must have devoured him!’ ” 

“Did it really say that? Then it was she! It was my 
dear little Fairy,” exclaimed Pinocchio, crying and sobbing. 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


199 


When he had cried for some time he dried his eyes and 
prepared a comfortable bed of straw for Geppetto to lie down 
upon. Then he asked the Cricket: 

“Tell me, little Cricket, where can I find a tumbler of 
milk for my poor papa?” 

“Three fields off from here there lives a gardener called 
Giangio, who keeps cows. Go to him and you will get the 
milk you are in want of.” 

Pinocchio ran all the way to Giangio’ s house, and the 
gardener asked him: 

“How much milk do you want?” 

“I want a tumblerful.” 

“A tumbler of milk costs five cents. Begin by giving 
me the five cents.” 

“I have not even one cent,” replied Pinocchio, grieved and 
mortified. 

“That is bad, puppet,” answered the gardener. “If you 
have not even one cent, I have not even a drop of milk.” 

“I must have patience!” said Pinocchio, and he turned 
to go. 

“Wait a little,” said Giangio. “We can come to an ar- 
rangement together. Will you undertake to turn the pump- 
ing machine?” 

“What is the pumping machine?” 

“It is a wooden pole which serves to draw up the water 
from the cistern to water the vegetables.” 

“You can try me.” 

“Well, then, if you will draw a hundred buckets of water, 
I will give you in compensation a tumbler of milk.” 


200 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


“It is a bargain.” 

“Giangio then led Pinocchio to the kitchen garden and 
taught him how to turn the pumping machine. Pinocchio 
immediately began to work; but before he had drawn up the 
hundred buckets of water the perspiration was pouring from 
his head to his feet. Never before had he undergone such 
fatigue. 

“Up till now,” said the gardener, “the labor of turning 
the pumping machine was performed by my little donkey, but 
the poor animal is dying.” 

“Will you take me to see him?” said Pinocchio. 

“Willingly.” 

When Pinocchio went into the stable he saw a beautiful 
little donkey stretched on the straw, worn out from hunger 
and overwork. After looking at him earnestly, he said to 
himself, much troubled: 

“I am sure I know this little donkey! His face is not 
new to me.” 

And, bending over him, he asked him in asinine language: 

“Who are you?” 

At this question the little donkey opened his dying eyes, 
and answered in broken words in the same language: 

“I am — Can — die — wick.” 

And, having again closed his eyes, he expired. 

“Oh, poor Candlewick!” said Pinocchio in a low voice; 
and, taking a handful of straw, he dried a tear that was roll- 
ing down his face. 

“Do you grieve for a donkey that cost you nothing?” said 
the gardener. “What must it be to me, who bought him for 
ready money?” 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCIIIO 


201 


“I must tell you — he was my friend!” 

“Your friend?” 

“One of my school-fellows!” 

“How?” shouted Giangio, laughing loudly. “How? had 
you donkeys for school-fellows? I can imagine what wonderful 
studies you must have made!” 

The puppet, who felt much mortified at these words, did 
not answer; but, taking his tumbler of milk, still quite warm, 
he returned to the hut. 

And from that day for more than five months he continued 
to get up at daybreak every morning to go and turn the 
pumping machine, to earn the tumbler of milk that was of 
such benefit to his father in his bad state of health. Nor was 
he satisfied with this; for, during the time that he had over, 
he learned to make hampers and baskets of rushes, and with 
the money he obtained by selling them he was able with great 
economy to provide for all the daily expenses. Amongst other 
things he constructed an elegant little wheel-chair, in which 
he could take his father out on fine days to breathe a mouthful 
of fresh air. 

By his industry, ingenuity and his anxiety to work and 
to overcome difficulties, he not only succeeded in maintaining 
his father, who continued infirm, in comfort, but he also con- 
trived to put aside five dollars to buy himself a new coat. 

One morning he said to his father: 

“I am going to the neighboring market to buy myself a 
jacket, a cap, and a pair of shoes. When I return,” he added, 
laughing, “I shall be so well dressed that you will take me 
for a fine gentleman.” 

And, leaving the house, he began to run merrily and 


202 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


happily along. All at once he heard himself called by name 
and, turning around, he saw a big Snail crawling out from 
the hedge. 

“Do you not know me?” asked the Snail. 

“It seems to me — and yet I am not sure ” 

“Do you not remember the Snail who was lady’s-maid to 
1 ^ Fairy with blue hair? Do you not remember the time 
when I came downstairs to let you in, and you were caught 
by your foot, which you had stuck through the house-door?” 

“I remember it all,” shouted Pinocchio. “Tell me quickly, 
my beautiful little Snail, where have you left my good Fairy? 
What is she doing? Has she forgiven me? Does she still remem- 
ber me? Does she still wish me well? Is she far from here? Can 
I go and see her?” 

To all these rapid, breathless questions the Snail replied in 
her usual phlegmatic manner: 

“My dear Pinocchio, the poor Fairy is lying in bed at the 
hospital!” 

“At the hospital?” 

“It is only too true. Overtaken by a thousand misfor- 
tunes, she has fallen seriously ill, and she has not even enough 
to buy herself a mouthful of bread.” 

“Is it really so? Oh, what sorrow you have given me! 
Oh, poor Fairy! Poor Fairy! Poor Fairy! If I had a million 
I would run and carry it to her, but I have only five dollars. 
Here they are — I was going to buy a new coat. Take them, 
Snail, and carry them at once to my good Fairy.” 

“And your new coat?” 

“What matters my new coat? I would sell even these 
rags that I have on to be able to help her. Go, Snail, and 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


203 


be quick; and in two days return to this place, for I hope I 
shall then be able to give you some more money. Up to this 
time I have worked to maintain my papa; from today I will 
work five hours more that I may also maintain my good 
mamma. Good-bye, Snail, I shall expect you in two days.” 

The Snail, contrary to her usual habits, began to run like 
a lizard in a hot August sun. 

That evening Pinocchio, instead of going to bed at ten 
o’clock, sat up till midnight had struck; and instead of making 
eight baskets of rushes he made sixteen. 

Then he went to bed and fell asleep. And whilst he 
slept he thought that he saw the Fairy, smiling and beautiful, 
who, after having kissed him, said to him: 

“Well done, Pinocchio! To reward you for your good 
heart I will forgive you for all that is past. Boys who minister 
tenderly to their parents and assist them in their misery and 
infirmities, are deserving of great praise and affection, even if 
they cannot he cited as examples of obedience and good behav- 
ior. Try and do better in the future and you will he happy.” 

At this moment his dream ended and Pinocchio opened 
his eyes and awoke. 

But imagine his astonishment when upon awakening he 
discovered that he was no longer a wooden puppet, but that 
he had become instead a boy, like all other boys. He gave a 
glance round and saw that the straw walls of the hut had 
disappeared, and that he was in a pretty little room furnished 
and arranged with a simplicity that was almost elegance. J ump- 
ing out of bed he found a new suit of clothes ready for him, 
a new cap, and a pair of new boots, that fitted him beautifully. 

He was hardly dressed when he naturally put his hands 


204 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


in his pockets and pulled out a little ivory purse on which 
these words were written: “The Fairy with blue hair returns 
the five dollars to her dear Pinocchio, and thanks him for his 
good heart.” He opened the purse and instead of five dollars 
he saw fifty shining gold pieces fresh from the mint. 

He then went and looked at himself in the glass, and he 
thought he was some one else. For he no longer saw the 
usual reflection of a wooden puppet; he was greeted instead 
by the image of a bright, intelligent boy with chestnut hair, 
blue eyes, and looking as happy and joyful as if it were the 
Easter holidays. 

In the midst of all these wonders succeeding each other, 
Pinocchio felt quite bewildered, and he could not tell if he 
was really awake or if he was dreaming with his eyes open. 

“Where can my papa be?” he exclaimed suddenly, and, 
going into the next room, he found old Geppetto quite well, 
lively, and in good humor, just as he had been formerly. He 
had already resumed his trade of wood-carving, and he was 
designing a rich and beautiful frame of leaves, flowers and 
the heads of animals. 

“Satisfy my curiosity, dear papa,” said Pinocchio, throw- 
ing his arms around his neck and covering him with kisses; 
“liow can this sudden change be accounted for?” 

“This sudden change in our home is all your doing,” an- 
swered Geppetto. 

“How my doing?” 

“Because when boys who have behaved badly turn over 
a new leaf and become good, they have the power of bringing 
contentment and happiness to their families.” 

“And where has the old wooden Pinocchio hidden himself?” 


THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 


205 


“There he is,” answered Geppetto, and he pointed to a 
big puppet leaning against a chair, with its head on one side, 
its arms dangling, and its legs so crossed and bent that it was 
really a miracle that it remained standing- 

Pinocchio turned and looked at it; and, after he had 
looked at it for a short time, he said to himself with great 
complacency : 

“How ridiculous I was when I was a puppet! And how 
glad I am that I have become a well-behaved little boy!” 





















































































































































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